Complete Libretto "Into the Woods"
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Please Note: This script is provided for educational purposes ONLY. By reading this, you have in no way acquired the right
to perform "Into the Woods" in any form or fashion. If you wish to put on your own production of "Into the Woods", please
contact Musical Theatre International (http://www.mtishows.com), who holds the rights to "Into the Woods". By reading this
script, you are in no way giving any money to Stephen Sondheim and/or James Lapine.

If
you like this show and/or script, please purchase the published script in the store so that you can help support Stephen Sondheim
and James Lapine, without who, there would be no "Into the Woods".
Song Breakdown is as follows:
Act 1, Scene 1-Prologue (Into the Woods)
Act 1, Scene 2-Cinderella at the Grave, Hello, Little Girl, I Guess This is Goodbye, Maybe They're Magic, Our
Little World, I Know Things Now, A Very Nice Prince, First Midnight
Act 1, Scene 3-Giants in the Sky, Agony, A Very Nice Prince (reprise), It Takes Two, Second Midnight
Act 1, Scene 4-Stay With Me, On the Steps of the Palace
Act 1, Scene 5-Act 1 Finale
Act 2, Scene 1-Prologue
Act 2, Scene 2-Agony (reprise), Witch's Lament, Any Moment, Moments in the Woods, Your Fault, Last Midnight,
No More, No One is Alone, Children Will Listen, Finale (Into the Woods, Children Will Listen)
Act One
Scene 1
(Downstage, three structures:
Far left, the home of Cinderella. She is in the kitchen, cleaning.
Center, the cottage where Jack lives. He is inside, milking his pathetic-looking cow, Milky-White.
Far right, the home/workplace of the Baker and his Wife. They are preparing tomorrow's bread.
Behind these homes, a drop depicts a large forest which separates them from the rest of the kingdom.
A Narrator steps forward.)
Narrator: Once upon a time-
(Music, sharp and steady. Light on Cinderella)
Cinderella (singing to us): I WISH
Narrator: -in a far-off kingdom-
Cinderella: MORE THAN ANYTHING
Narrator: -lived a young maiden-
Cinderella: MORE THAN LIFE
Narrator: -a sad young lad-
(Light on Jack and the cow)
Cinderella: MORE THAN JEWELS
Jack: (to us) I WISH
Narrator: -and a childless Baker-
(Light on the Baker and his Wife)
Jack: MORE THAN LIFE
Cinderella, Baker: I WISH
Narrator: -with his wife.
Jack: MORE THAN ANYTHING
Cinderella, Baker, Jack: MORE THAN THE MOON
Baker's Wife: I WISH
Cinderella: THE KING IS GIVING A FESTIVAL.
Baker, Baker's Wife: MORE THAN LIFE
Jack: I WISH
Cinderella: I WISH TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL-
Baker, Baker's Wife: MORE THAN RICHES
Cinderella: -AND THE BALL
Jack: I WISH MY COW WOULD GIVE US SOME MILK.
Cinderella, Baker's Wife: MORE THAN ANYTHING
Baker: I WISH WE HAD A CHILD.
Jack: (to cow) PLEASE, PAL-
Baker's Wife: I WANT A CHILD
Jack: SQUEEZE, PAL
Cinderella: I WISH TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL.
Jack: (overlapping) I WISH YOU'D GIVE US SOME MILK OR EVEN CHEESE
Baker, Baker's Wife (overlapping): I WISH WE MIGHT HAVE A CHILD.
All Four: I WISH...
(Cinderella's STEPMOTHER and stepsisters, FLORINDA and LUCINDA, enter.)
Stepmother (To CINDERELLA): YOU WISH TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL?
Narrator: The poor girl's mother had died-
Stepmother: You, Cinderella, the Festival?
You wish to go to the Festival?
Florinda (overlapping): What, you, Cinderella, the Festival?
The Festival?!
Lucinda (overlapping): What, you wish to go to the Festival?!
All Three: The Festival?!
The King's Festival!!!???
Narrator: -and her father had taken for his new wife-
Stepmother: The Festival!!!???
Narrator: -a woman with two daughters of her own.
Florinda (To CINDERELLA): LOOK AT YOUR NAILS!
Lucinda: LOOK AT YOUR DRESS!
Stepmother: PEOPLE WOULD LAUGH AT YOU-
Cinderella: NEVERTHELESS-
Cinderella, Stepsisters, Stepmother: I/YOU/SHE STILL WISH/WANT/WANTS TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL-
Stepsisters, Stepmother: -AND DANCE BEFORE THE PRINCE?!
(They chortle with laughter musically, then fall about out of control. Music stops)
Narrator: All three were beautiful of face, but vile, and black of heart.
(Music Resumes)
Narrator: Jack, on the other hand, had no father, and his mother-
Jack's Mother (entering): I WISH
Narrator: Well, she was not quite beautiful-
Jack's Mother: I WISH MY SON WERE NOT A FOOL
I WISH MY HOUSE WAS NOT A MESS
I WISH THE COW WAS FULL OF MILK
I WISH THE WALLS WERE FULL OF GOLD-
I WISH A LOT OF THINGS
(To JACK, music continuing under)
You foolish child! What in heaven's name are you doing with a cow inside the house?
Jack: A warn environment might be just what Milky-White needs to produce his milk.
Jack's Mother (Beat; flabbergasted): It's a she! How many times must a tell you? Only "she's can give milk.
(Two knocks on the BAKER's door; BAKER'S WIFE opens door; it is LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD)
Baker's Wife: Why, come in, little girl.
Little Red Riding Hood: I WISH
IT'S NOT FOR ME,
IT'S FOR MY GRANNY IN THE WOODS.
A LOAD OF BREAD, PLEASE-
TO BRING MY POOR OLD HUNGRY
GRANNY IN THE WOODS
(Insistent)
JUST A LOAF OF BREAD, PLEASE
(BAKER gives her a loaf of bread.)
Narrator: Cinderella's stepmother had a surprise for her.
(STEPMOTHER throws a pot of lentils into the fire-place.)
Stepmother: I have emptied a pot of lentils into the ashes for you. If you have picked them out again in two hours' time,
you shall go to the Ball with us.
(STEPMOTHER and STEPSISTERS exit.)
Little Red Riding Hood: AND PERHAPS A STICKY BUN?
OR FOUR?
(Smiles sheepishly)
Cinderella: BIRDS IN THE SKY,
BIRDS IN THE EAVES,
IN THE LEAVES,
IN THE FIELDS,
IN THE CASTLES AND PONDS
Little Red Riding Hood: AND A FEW OF THOSE PIES
Cinderella (Overlapping): COME, LITTLE BIRDS,
DOWN FROM THE EAVES
AND THE LEAVES,
OVER FIELDS,
OUT OF CASTLES AND PONDS
Jack: NO, SQUEEZE PAL
Cinderella (Falling into a trance): AHHH
(Music continues as birds descend into the fireplace.)
QUICK LITTLE BIRDS,
FLICK THROUGH THE ASHES.
PICK AND PECK, BUT SWIFTLY,
SIFT THROUGH THE ASHES
INTO THE POT
(Birds start picking at the lentils and dropping them into the pot, each one landing with a clang; music continues under.)
Jack's Mother: Listen well, son. Milky-White must be taken to market.
(Clangs continue as the birds work.)
Jack: But, Mother, no-he's the best cow-
Jack's Mother: Was. Was! She's been dry for a week. We've no food nor money and no choice but to sell her while she can still
command a price.
Jack: But Milky-White is my best friend in the whole world!
Jack's Mother: Look at her!
THERE ARE BUGS ON HER DUNGS.
THERE ARE FLIES IN HER EYES.
THERE'S A LUMP ON HER RUMP
BIG ENOUGH TO BE A HUMP-
Jack: But-
Jack's Mother: Son,
WE'VE NO TIME TO SIT AND DITHER,
WHILE HER WITHERS WITHER WITH HER-
(Two clangs)
AND NO ONE KEEPS A COW FOR A FRIEND!
Sometimes I fear you're touched.
(LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD has been compulsively eating sweets at the Baker's house; she now swallows, wiping her hands and mouth.)
Little Red Riding Hood: INTO THE WOODS,
IT'S TIME TO GO,
I HATE TO LEAVE,
I HAVE TO, THOUGH.
INTO THE WOODS-
IT'S TIME AND SO
I MUST BEGIN MY JOURNEY.
INTO THE WOODS
AND THROUGH THE TREES
TO WHERE I AM
EXPECTED, MA'AM,
INTO THE WOODS
TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE-
(Mouth full) INTO THE WOODS
TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE-
Baker's Wife: You're certain of your way?
Little Red Riding Hood: THE WAY IS CLEAR,
THE LIGHT IS GOOD,
I HAVE NO FEAR,
NOR NO ONE SHOULD.
THE WOODS ARE JUST TREES,
THE TREES ARE JUST WOOD.
I SORT OF HATE TO ASK IT,
BUT DO YOU HAVE A BASKET?
Baker: Don't stray and be late.
Baker's Wife: And save some of those sweets for granny!
Little Red Riding Hood: INTO THE WOODS
AND DOWN THE DELL,
THE PATH IT STRAIGHT,
I KNOW IT WELL.
INTO THE WOODS,
AND WHO CAN TELL
WHAT'S WAITING ON THE JOURNEY?
INTO THE WOODS
TO BRING SOME BREAD
TO GRANNY WHO
IS SICK IN BED.
NEVER CAN TELL
WHAT LIES AHEAD.
FOR ALL THAT I KNOW,
SHE'S ALREADY DEAD.
BUT INTO THE WOODS,
INTO THE WOODS,
INTO THE WOODS,
TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE
AND HOME BEFORE DARK.
(The birds have helped CINDERELLA with her task and are flying off.)
Cinderella: FLY, BIRDS
BACK TO THE SKY,
BACK TO THE EAVES
AND THE LEAVES
AND THE FIELDS
AND THE-
(FLORINDA and LUCINDA enter, dressed for the Ball.)
Florinda: HURRY UP AND DO MY HAIR, CINDERELLA!
(To LUCINDA, and CINDERELLA fusses with her hair.)
ARE YOU REALLY WEARING THAT?
Lucinda (pointing to her sleeve): Here, I found a little tear, Cinderella!
(To FLORINDA, eyeing her hair)
CAN'T YOU HIDE IT WITH A HAT?
Cinderella: YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL.
Florinda: I know.
Lucinda: She means me.
Florinda (to CINDERELLA): Put it in a twist.
Lucinda: Who will be there?
(LUCINDA and FLORINDA continue babbling underneath.)
Cinderella (To herself): MOTHER SAID BE GOOD,
FATHER SAID BE NICE,
THAT WAS ALWAYS THEIR ADVICE.
SO BE NICE, CINDERELLA,
GOOD, CINDERELLA,
NICE GOOD GOOD NICE-
Florinda: Tighter!
Cinderella: WHAT'S THE GOOD OF BEING GOOD
IF EVERYONE IS BLIND
ALWAYS LEAVING YOU BEHIND?
NEVER MIND, CINDERELLA
KIND CINDERELLA-
(Accenting each word with a twist of a strand of hair)
NICE GOOD NICE KIND GOOD NICE-
Florinda: (Screams and slaps CINDERELLA) Not that tight!
Cinderella (Backing away): Sorry.
Florinda: Clod.
(A beat)
Lucinda: Hee hee hee-
(Florinda glares at her.)
Hee hee-
(She stops.
Music continues under.)
Narrator: Because the Baker had lost his mother and father in a baking accident-well, at least that is what he believed-he
was eager to have a family of his own, and concerned that all efforts until now had failed.
(A knock on the BAKER's door)
Baker: Who might that be? (He looks off to see)
Baker's Wife: We have sold our last loaf of bread.
Baker: It's the witch from next door.
(The WITCH enters; music resumes)
Baker's Wife, Baker: We have no bread.
Witch: Of course you have no bread!
Baker: What do you wish?
Witch: It's not what I wish. It's what you wish. (points to WIFE's belly) Nothing cooking in there now, is there?
Narrator: The old enchantress went on to tell the couple that she had placed a spell on their house.
Baker: What spell?
Witch: In the past, when you were no more than a babe, your father brought his young wife and you to this cottage. They were
a handsome couple, but not handsome neighbors. You see, your mother was with child and had developed an unusual appetite.
She took one look at my beautiful garden and told your father what she wanted more than anything in the world was
Greens, greens, and nothing but greens:
Parsley, peppers, cabbages, and celery,
Asparagus and watercress and
Fiddleferns and lettuce-!
(Falling into "rap" style)
He said, "All right,"
But it wasn't, quite,
'Cause I caught him in the autumn
In my garden one night!
He was robbing me,
Raping me,
Rooting through my rutabaga,
Raiding my arugula and
(My champion! My favorite!)-
I should have laid a spell on him
("Spell" chord)
Right there,
Could have turned him into a stone
Or a dog or a chair
Or a sn-
(Drifts off into a momentary trance)
But I let him have the rampion-
I'd lots to spare.
In return, however,
I said, "Fair is fair:
You can let me have the baby
That your wife will bear.
And we'll call it square."
(music stops)
Baker: I had a brother?
Witch: No. But you had a sister.
Narrator: But the witch refused to tell him any more of his sister. Not even that her name was Rapunzel. She went on:
(music resumes)
Witch: I thought I had been more than reasonable, and that we all might live happily ever after. But how was I to know what
your father had also hid in his pocket?! You see, when I had inherited that garden, my mother had warned me I would be punished
if I were ever to lose any of the
Beans.
Baker, Baker's Wife: Beans?
Witch: The special beans. (getting worked up)
I let him go
I didn't know
He'd stolen my beans!
I was watching him crawl
Back over the wall-!
("rap")
And the bang! Crash!
And the lightning flash!
And-well that's another story,
Never mind-
Anyway, at last the big day came
And I made my claim.
"Oh don't take away the baby,"
They shrieked and screeched,
But I did,
And I hid her
Where she'll never be reached.
And your father cried,
And you mother died
When for extra measure-
I admit it was a pleasure-
I said, "sorry,
I'm still not mollified."
And I laid a little spell on them-
("spell" chord)
You too, son-
That your family tree
Would always be
A barren one.
(WITCH levitates in her chair, laughing as she goes; BAKER and WIFE gasp in disbelief.)
So there's no more fuss
And there's no more scenes
And my garden thrives-
You should see my nectarines!
But I'm telling you the same
I tell Kings and Queens:
Don't ever never ever
Mess around with my greens!
Especially the beans.
(Her chair returns to the ground;
music continues under; Jack has his cap and coat on.)
Jack's Mother: Now listen to me, Jack. Lead Milky-White to market and fetch the best price you can. Take no less than five
pounds. Are you listening to me?
Jack: Yes.
Jack's Mother: How much are you to ask?
Jack: No more than five pounds.
(she pinches his ear hard)
Jack's Mother, Jack: Less! Than five!
(she lets go)
Jack's Mother: JACK, JACK, JACK,
HEAD IN A SACK,
THE HOUSE IS GETTING COLDER,
THIS IS NOT A TIME FOR DREAMING.
CHIMNEY-STACK
STARTING TO CRACK,
THE MICE ARE GETTING BOLDER
THE FLOOR'S GONE SLACK
YOUR MOTHER'S GETTING OLDER,
YOUR FATHER'S NOT BACK,
AND YOU CAN'T JUST SIT HERE DREAMING PRETTY DREAMS.
TO WISH AND WAIT
FROM DAY TO DAY
WILL NEVER KEEP
WOLVES AWAY.
SO INTO THE WOODS,
THE TIME IS NOW.
WE HAVE TO LIVE,
I DON'T CARE HOW.
INTO THE WOODS
TO SELL THE COW,
YOU MUST BEGIN THE JOURNEY.
STRAIGHT THROUGH THE WOODS
AND DON'T DELAY-
WE HAVE TO FACE
THE MARKETPLACE.
INTO THE WOODS TO JOURNEY'S END-
Jack: INTO THE WOODS TO SELL A FRIEND-
(Music continues under.)
Jack's Mother: Someday you'll have a real pet, Jack.
Jack: A piggy?
(JACK'S MOTHER shakes her head in disbelief)
Narrator: Meanwhile, the witch, for purposes of her own, explained how the baker might lift the spell:
Witch: You wish to have
The curse reversed?
I'll need a certain
Potion first.
Go to the wood and bring me back:
One: the cow as white as milk,
Two: The cape as red as blood,
Three: The hair as yellow as corn,
Four: The slipper as pure as gold.
Bring me these
Before the chime
Of midnight
In three days' time,
And you shall have,
I guarantee,
A child as perfect
As child can be.
Go to the wood!
(disappears after throwing spell at BAKER's groin BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE double over.
fanfare. STEPMOTHER enters)
Stepmother: Ladies,
(fanfare)
our carriage waits.
(CINDERELLA shows her the plate of lentils.)
Cinderella: NOW MAY I GO TO THE FESTIVAL?
Stepmother: The festival?
DARLING, THOSE NAILS!
DARLING, THOSE CLOTHES!
LENTILS ARE ON THING BUT
DARLING, WITH THOSE,
YOU'D MAKE US THE FOOLS OF THE FESTIVAL
AND MORTIFY THE PRINCE!
(CINDERELLA'S FATHER enters)
Cinderella's Father: The carriage is waiting.
Stepmother: We must be gone.
(They exit with a flourish.)
Cinderella: Goodnight, father.
(He grunts and exits.)
I WISH
(CINDERELLA sits dejected, crying.
music continues under. The BAKER, having gone off, returns in hunting gear.)
Baker: Look what I found in Father's hunting jacket.
Baker's Wife: Six beans.
Baker: I wonder if they are the-
Baker's Wife: Witch's beans? We'll take them with us.
Baker: No, you are not coming.
Baker's Wife: I know you are fearful of the woods at night.
Baker: THE SPELL IS ON MY HOUSE.
ONLY I CAN LIFT THE SPELL,
THE SPELL IS ON MY HOUSE.
Baker's Wife (overlapping): NO, NO, THE SPELL IS ON OUR HOUSE.
WE MUST LIFT THE SPELL TOGETHER,
THE SPELL IS ON OUR HOUSE.
Baker (overlapping): No. You are not to come and that is final. Now what am I to return with?
Baker's Wife (annoyed): You don't remember?
THE COW AS WHITE AS MILK,
THE CAPE AS RED AS BLOOD,
THE HAIR AS YELLOW AS CORN,
THE SLIPPER AS PURE AS GOLD-
Baker (Memorizing): THE COW AS WHITE AS MILK,
THE CAPE AS RED AS BLOOD,
THE HAIR AS YELLOW AS CORN,
THE SLIPPER AS PURE AS GOLD
Narrator (overlapping): And so the baker, reluctantly, set off to meet the enchantress's demands. As for Cinderella:
Cinderella: I STILL WISH TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL.
BUT HOW AM I EVER TO GET TO THE FESTIVAL?
Baker (simultaneously, muttering as he gets ready to leave): THE COW AS WHITE AS MILK,
THE CAPE AS RED AS BLOOD,
THE HAIR AS YELLOW AS CORN-
Baker's Wife (prompting): The slipper-
Baker: THE SLIPPER AS PURE AS GOLD
Cinderella (overlapping): I KNOW!
I'LL VISIT MOTHER'S GRAVE,
THE GRAVE AT THE HAZEL TREE,
AND TELL HER I JUST WANT TO
GO TO THE KING'S FESTIVAL.
Baker: THE COW, THE CAPE,
THE SLIPPER AS PURE AS GOLD-
Baker's Wife: THE HAIR-!
Baker, Cinderella: INTO THE WOODS,
IT'S TIME TO GO,
IT MAY BE ALL
IN VAIN, YOU/I KNOW.
INTO THE WOODS-
BUT EVEN SO,
I HAVE TO TAKE THE JOURNEY.
Baker, Cinderella, Baker's Wife: INTO THE WOODS,
THE PATH IS STRAIGHT,
YOU (I) KNOW IT WELL,
BUT WHO CAN TELL-?
Baker, Baker's Wife: INTO THE WOODS TO LIFT THE SPELL-
Cinderella: INTO THE WOODS TO VISIT MOTHER-
Baker's Wife: INTO THE WOODS TO FETCH THE THINGS-
Baker: TO MAKE THE POTION-
Cinderella: TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL-
Baker, Baker's Wife, Cinderella, Jack, Jack's Mother: INTO THE WOODS
WITHOUT REGRET,
THE CHOICE IS MADE,
THE TASK IS SET.
INTO THE WOODS,
BUT NOT FORGET-
TING WHY I'M/YOU'RE ON THE JOURNEY.
INTO THE WOODS
TO GET MY/OUR WISH,
I DON'T CARE HOW,
THE TIME IS NOW.
Jack's Mother: INTO THE WOODS TO SELL THE COW-
Jack: INTO THE WOODS TO GET THE MONEY-
(Leads Milky-White into the woods.)
Baker's Wife: INTO THE WOODS TO LIFT THE SPELL-
Baker: TO MAKE THE POTION-
(He sets off for the woods.)
Cinderella: TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL-
(She sets off for the woods.)
Little Red Riding Hood (skipping by): INTO THE WOODS TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE
INTO THE WOODS TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE
All: THE WAY IS CLEAR,
THE LIGHT IS GOOD,
I HAVE NO FEAR,
NOR NO ONE SHOULD.
THE WOODS ARE JUST TREES,
THE TREES ARE JUST WOOD.
NO NEED TO BE AFRAID THERE-
Baker, Cinderella (apprehensive): THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE GLADE THERE
All: INTO THE WOODS
WITHOUT DELAY,
BUT CAREFUL NOT
TO LOSE THE WAY.
INTO THE WOODS,
WHO KNOWS WHAT MAY
BE LURKING ON THE JOURNEY?
INTO THE WOODS
TO GET THE THING
THAT MAKES IT WORTH
THE JOURNEYING.
INTO THE WOODS-
Stepmother, Stepsisters: TO SEE THE KING-
Jack, Jack's Mother: TO SELL THE COW-
Baker, Baker's Wife: TO MAKE THE POTION-
All: TO SEE-
TO SELL-
TO GET-
TO BRING-
TO MAKE-
TO LIFT-
TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL-!
INTO THE WOODS!
INTO THE WOODS!
INTO THE WOODS,
THEN OUT OF THE WOODS,
AND HOME BEFORE DARK!
(blackout)
END OF SCENE ONE
Act One
Scene 2
(the wood, late afternoon.
The stage is filled by trees of all variety. Many twisted and gnarled---others going straight forward to the sky without a
branch. Bright sunlight streams through, creating a wonderful light maze.
As the scene progresses, the sunlight is gradually replaced by moonlight, and the stage gets alternately light and dark, suggesting
a windy/cloudy night. The foliage rustles in the breeze, with an occasional gust blowing about low-lying fog, giving an eerie
feeling.
CINDERELLA kneels before a tree filled with birds)
Narrator: Cinderella had planted a branch at the grave of her mother and she visited often, and wept so much, that her trees
watered it until it had become a handsome tree.
(exits)
Cinderella: I'VE BEEN GOOD AND I'VE BEEN KIND, MOTHER,
DOING ONLY WHAT I LEARNED FROM YOU.
WHY THEN AM I LEFT BEHIND, MOTHER,
IS THERE SOMETHING MORE THAT I SHOULD DO?
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME, MOTHER?
SOMETHING MUST BE WRONG.
I WISH--
(suddenly, the ghost of CINDERELLA'S MOTHER appears within the tree. SHE is a collection of remembered mannerisms and sayings)
Cinderella's Mother: What, child? Specify. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor and good fortune, though bad, can befall when
least expected.
Cinderella: I wish...
Cinderella's Mother: DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WISH?
ARE YOU CERTAIN WHAT YOU WISH
IS WHAT YOU WANT?
IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT,
THEN MAKE A WISH.
ASK THE TREE.
AND YOU SHALL HAVE YOUR WISH.
Cinderella: (rising) SHIVER AND QUIVER, LITTLE TREE,
SILVER AND GOLD THROWN DOWN ON ME.
(a gold and silver dress and fancy slippers drop down from the tree)
I'M OFF TO GET MY WISH.
(picks up the clothes and dashes offstage
JACK is walking through the woods, leading MILKY-WHITE. he stops and sits on a tree stump)
Jack: Quiet. Silence everywhere, Milky-White. Not to my liking...
(pause)
Mysterious Man: (stepping from behind a tree)
Hello, Jack.
Jack: (frightened) How did you know my name?
Mysterious Man: When first I appear, I seem mysterious. But when explained, I am nothing serious.
Jack: Say that again.
Mysterious Man: On your way to market? You might have been there long time ago. Taking your time, Jack?
Jack: No, sir.
Mysterious Man: Is that the truth?
Jack: Well, you see now I'm resting--
Mysterious Man: How much are you asking for the animal?
Jack: No less than five pounds, sir.
Mysterious Man: Oh now, Jack. Why such a sum?
Jack: My mother told me--
Mysterious Man: Your mother? A boy your age? Why you'd be lucky to exchange her for a sack of beans.
Jack: Well, I--
(before JACK can respond, the MYSTERIOUS MAN has disappeared)
Jack: Come along, Milky-White. There are spirits here...
(exits
another part of the woods. LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD, skipping to the accompaniment of "Into the Woods," is surprised by the WOLF.
MUSIC stops)
Wolf: Good day, young lady.
Little Red Ridinghood: Good day, Mr. Wolf.
(MUSIC resumes.
LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD continues. WOLF stops her again.
MUSIC stops)
Wolf: Whither away so hurriedly?
Little Red Ridinghood: To my Grandmother's.
(MUSIC resumes.
LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD continues briefly. WOLF stops her once more)
Wolf: And what might be in your basket?
(sniffs basket, then her torso)
Little Red Ridinghood: Bread and wine, so Grandmother will have something good to make her strong.
Wolf: And where might your grandmother live?
(BAKER appears behind a tree and eavesdrops)
Little Red Ridinghood: A good quarter of a league further in the woods; her house stands under three large oak trees.
(WOLF grunts lasciviously to himself as he watches LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD skip off)
Wolf: MMMH...
(rubbing his thighs)
UNHH...
LOOK AT THAT FLESH,
PINK AND PLUMP.
HELLO LITTLE GIRL...
TENDER AND FRESH,
NOT ONE LUMP.
HELLO LITTLE GIRL...
THIS ONE'S ESPECIALLY LUSH,
DELICIOUS...
MMMH...
(smacks his lips, then runs over and pops up in front of LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD, holds her as for a tango. he begins moving
like Fred Astaire. LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD leans with him, but doesn't move her feet)
HELLO, LITTLE GIRL,
WHAT'S YOUR RUSH?
YOU'RE MISSING ALL THE FLOWERS.
THE SUN WON'T SET FOR HOURS,
TAKE YOUR TIME.
Little Red Ridinghood: (breaking away) MOTHER SAID,
"STRAIGHT AHEAD,"
NOT TO DELAY
OR BE MISLED.
Wolf: BUT SLOW, LITTLE GIRL,
HARK! AND HUSH---
THE BIRDS ARE SINGING SWEETLY.
YOU'LL MISS THE BIRDS COMPLETELY,
YOU'RE TRAVELING SO FLEETLY.
(LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD stops to listen; WOLF devours her with his eyes, mutters to himself)
GRANDMOTHER FIRST,
THEN MISS PLUMP...
WHAT A DELECTABLE COUPLE:
UTTER PERFECTION--
ONE BRITTLE, ONE SUPPLE--
(sees LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD start to move off again)
ONE MOMENT, MY DEAR---!
(LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD stops again)
Little Red Ridinghood: MOTHER SAID,
"COME WHAT MAY,
FOLLOW THE PATH
AND NEVER STRAY."
WOLF: JUST SO, LITTLE GIRL---
ANY PATH.
SO MANY WORTH EXPLORING.
JUST ONE WOULD BE SO BORING.
AND LOOK WHAT YOU'RE IGNORING...
(gestures to the trees and flowers. LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD looks around)
Wolf: (to himself)
THINK OF THOSE CRISP, AGING BONES,
THEN SOMETHING FRESH ON THE PALATE,
THINK OF THAT SCRUMPTIOUS CARNALITY
TWICE IN ONE DAY--!
THERE'S NO POSSIBLE WAY
TO DESCRIBE WHAT YOU FEEL,
WHEN YOU'RE TALKING TO YOUR MEAL.
Little Red Ridinghood: MOTHER SAID
NOT TO STRAY.
STILL, I SUPPOSE A SMALL DELAY.
GRANNY MIGHT LIKE A FRESH BOUQUET...
GOODBYE MR. WOLF.
(she crosses to flowers, starts to pick them, then exits)
Wolf: GOODBYE, LITTLE GIRL.
(starts off)
AND HELLO...
(he howls and exits)
Baker: (entering, horrified)
Is harm to come to that little girl...in the red cape?
(WITCH appears, MUSIC under)
Witch: Forget the little girl and get the cape!
Baker: (clutching his chest)
You frightened me.
Witch: That's the cape. Get it. Get it. Get it!
Baker: How am I supposed to get it?
Witch: You go up to the little thing and you take it.
Baker: I can't just take a cloak from a little girl. Why don't you take it!
Witch: If I could, I would! But I...
(we hear RAPUNZEL singing in the distance, sweetly. WITCH listens entranced)
Ahhh, my Rapunzel...listen to her beautiful music... (yelling) Get me what I need. Get me what I need!
(she disappears back up into the tree)
Baker: (distraught) This is ridiculous. I'll never get that red cape, nor find a golden cow, or a yellow slipper--or was it
a golden slipper and a yellow cow? Oh, no...
Baker's Wife: (softly, appearing behind the tree)
THE COW AS WHITE AS MILK,
THE CAPE AS RED AS BLOOD,
THE HAIR AS YELLOW AS CORN,
THE SLIPPER AS PURE AS--
Baker: (overlapping) What are you doing here?
Baker's Wife: (Coming forward, takes a scarf and tries to put it around his neck)
You forgot your scarf--
Baker: (taking scarf off)
You have no business being alone in the wood. And you have no idea what I've come upon here. You would be frightened for your
life. Now go home immediately!
Baker's Wife: I wish to help.
Baker: NO! THE SPELL IS ON MY HOUSE--
Baker's Wife: OUR HOUSE.
(JACK enters dragging the COW by a rope on its neck)
Baker: ONLY I CAN LIFT THE SPELL,
THE SPELL IS ON MY HOUSE--!
Baker's Wife: (overlapping) WE MUST LIFT THE SPELL TOGETHER THE SPELL IS ON--
(puts hand across BAKER'S mouth, we see JACK at other side of stage)
A COW AS WHITE AS--
Baker: (takes WIFE'S hand away)
--milk.
(BAKER'S WIFE pushes BAKER in JACK'S direction, follows)
Baker: Hello there, young man.
Jack: (looks at BAKER, scared)
Hello, sir.
Baker: What might you be doing with a cow in the middle of the forest?
Jack: I was heading to market--but I seem to have lost my way.
Baker's Wife: (coaching the BAKER) And what are you planning to do there--?
Baker: And what are you planning to do there?
Jack: Sell my cow, sir. No less than five pounds.
\
Baker: Five pounds! (to WIFE) Where am I to get five pounds?
Baker's Wife: She must be generous of milk to fetch five pounds?
Jack: (hesitant) Yes Ma'am.
Baker's Wife: And if you can't fetch that sum? Then what are you to do?
Jack: I hadn't thought of that. I suppose my mother and I will have no food to eat.
(BAKER has emptied his pockets. He has a few coins and the beans in hand)
Baker: (to WIFE) This is the sum total.
Baker's Wife: (loudly) BEANS! We mustn't give up our beans! Well...if you feel we must.
Baker: Huh!
Baker's Wife: (to JACK) Beans will bring you food, son.
Jack: Beans in exchange for my cow?
Baker's Wife: Oh, these are no ordinary beans, son. These beans carry magic.
Jack: Magic? What kind of magic?
Baker's Wife: (to BAKER) Tell him.
(MYSTERIOUS MAN enters behind a tree)
Baker: (nervous) Magic that defies description.
Jack: My mum would--
Mysterious Man: ...you'd be lucky to exchange her for a sack of beans.
(BAKER'S WIFE and BAKER hug, frightened by MYSTERIOUS MAN'S voice. MYSTERIOUS MAN exits)
Jack: How many beans?
Baker: Six.
Baker's Wife: Five! We can't part with all of them. We must leave one for ourselves. Besides I'd say they're worth a pound
each, at the very least.
Jack: Could I buy my cow back someday?
Baker: (Uneasy) Well...possibly.
(hands JACK the beans, counting out five and keeping one for his pocket; BAKER'S WIFE then takes the cow)
Good luck there, young lad.
Jack: (tearful, to the cow)
I GUESS THIS IS GOODBYE, OLD PAL;
YOU'VE BEEN A PERFECT FRIEND.
I HATE TO SEE US PART, OLD PAL,
SOMEDAY I'LL BUY YOU BACK.
I'LL SEE YOU SOON AGAIN.
I HOPE THAT WHEN I DO,
IT WON'T BE ON A PLATE.
(overcome with emotion, JACK exits.
MUSIC continues under)
Baker: (angry) Take the cow and go home!
Baker's Wife: I was trying to be helpful.
Baker: Magic beans! We've no reason to believe they're magic! Are we going to dispel this curse through deceit?
Baker's Wife: No one would have given him more for that creature. We did him a favor. At least they'll have some food.
Baker: Five beans!
Baker's Wife: IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WANT,
THEN YOU GO AND YOU FIND IT AND YOU GET IT--
Baker: (pointing off) HOME.
Baker's Wife: Do we want a child or not?
--AND YOU GIVE AND YOU TAKE
AND YOU BID AND YOU BARGAIN
OR YOU LIVE TO REGRET IT.
Baker: Will you please go home.
Baker's Wife: THERE ARE RIGHTS AND WRONGS AND IN-BETWEENS--
NO ONE WAITS WHEN FORTUNE INTERVENES.
AND MAYBE THEY'RE REALLY MAGIC. WHO KNOWS?
WHY YOU DO WHAT YOU DO. THAT'S THE POINT;
ALL THE REST OF IT IS CHATTER.
Baker: (looking over at MILKY-WHITE)
Look at her she's crying.
Baker's Wife: IF THE THING YOU DO IS PURE IN INTENT,
IF IT'S MEANT,
AND IT'S JUST A LITTLE BENT,
DOES IT MATTER?
Baker: YES.
Baker's Wife: NO, WHAT MATTERS IS THAT EVERYONE TELLS TINY LIES.
WHAT'S IMPORTANT, REALLY, IS THE SIZE.
(pause: no response)
ONLY THREE MORE TRIES AND WE'LL HAVE OUR PRIZE.
WHEN THE END'S IN SIGHT, YOU'LL REALIZE:
IF THE END IS RIGHT, IT JUSTIFIES THE BEANS!
Baker: Take the cow and go home. I will carry this out in my own fashion!
(BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE exit in different directions. NARRATOR enters, RAPUNZEL singing off in the distance. RAPUNZEL'S tower
appears)
Narrator: And so the Baker continued his search for the cape as red as blood.
(WITCH enters)
**TO INCLUDE "OUR LITTLE WORLD," continue from here using insert below, skip the brief section that follows the insert, then
go to !Continue Here!**
As for Rapunzel, the Witch was careful not to lose this beauty to the outside world, and so shut her within a doorless tower
that lay deep within the forest.
(NARRATOR exits as WITCH crosses to tower)
insert 5a OUR LITTLE WORLD
Rapunzel: AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH
Witch: CHILDREN ARE A BLESSING--
Rapunzel: AHHHH...
Witch: IF YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.
Rapunzel: AHHH...
Witch: NOTHING'S SO DISTRESSING, THOUGH
R RAPUNZEL AS WHEN THEY KEEP YOU GUESSING, SO
BE SURE YOU DON'T LEAVE ANY JARS AJAR.
MAKE A LITTLE
WORLD.
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS BIG ENOUGH FOR ME--
PERFECT.
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS ALL IT NEEDS TO BE--
PERFECT!
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT!
Rapunzel: (overlapping) OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS BIG ENOUGH FOR ME--
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS ALL IT NEEDS TO BE
BRUSHING MY HAIR
ONLY MY MOTHER
AND ME AND MY HAIR
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT;
IF SHE DIDN'T DROOL.
AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH--
Witch: (simultaneously with above)
Rapunzel. Rapunzel. Let down your hair to me! Rapunzel...Rapunzel!
(Rapunzel lowers her hair)
Witch: LOOK AT HER COMPLEXION,
STILL UNTOUCHED BY THE SUN.
CHILDREN NEED PROTECTION
JUST THE WAY THEY NEED AFFECTION;
OR THEY WONDER AND THEY WANDER
AND THEY RUN FROM YOUR LITTLE
WORLD.
OUR LITTLE WORLD--
PERFECT!
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS EVERYTHING
A WORLD OUGHT TO BE--
PERFECT!
PERFECT!
TENDING HER HAIR.
STROKING HER HAIR
LOOKING AT HER HAIR
SOMETHING WE CAN SHARE,
HAIR--
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT
NOTHING TO CHANGE HER;
EACH DAY
LIKE THE OTHER
NOTHING TO DIVERT HER,
TO DISCONCERT HER;
NOTHING
THAT CAN POSSIBLY
HURT HER...
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT
Rapunzel: (overlapping) OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS ALL I HAVE TO SEE...
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS EVERYTHING
A WORLD OUGHT TO BE
WASHING MY HAIR
DRYING MY HAIR
UNRAVELING MY HAIR
WINDING AND BINDING
AND MINDING MY HAIR--
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT;
OR AT LEAST SO SHE CLAIMS.
IF SHE ONLY CUT HER NAILS
DIDN'T HAVE THOSE POINTY TEETH
TINY EYES...
OTHERWISE
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT
AND WORLD ENOUGH
FOR ME--
Witch: OUR LITTLE WORLD--
BRAIDING HER HAIR...
IF WHAT WAS GROWING
WAS ONLY HER HAIR
AND NOT HER;
THAT I'D PREFER.
NEVERTHELESS.
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT.
Rapunzel: (overlapping) GROWING MY HAIR
WHAT DO I CARE
WHAT THEY ARE DOING
OUT THERE?
OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT.
(after applause, MUSIC continues)
(Rapunzel grunts as the witch climbs up her hair)
Rapunzel and Witch: OUR LITTLE WORLD
IS PERFECT...
(RAPUNZEL grunts as the WITCH climbs up her hair)
Witch: DELICIOUS...
Rapunzel: UNH...
Witch: FULFILLING...
Rapunzel: UNH...
Witch: EXCLUSIVE...
Rapunzel: UNH...
Witch: EXEMPLARY...
Rapunzel: UNH...
(the WITCH keeps swinging and climbing up with difficulty as RAPUNZEL leans forward in pain. RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE comes from
around a tree)
end of insert - go to !CONTINUE HERE!
Narrator: As for Rapunzel, the Witch was careful not to lose this beauty to the outside world and so shut her up within a
doorless tower that lay deep within the forest. And when the old enchantress paid a visit, she called forth:
(NARRATOR exits as WITCH crosses to tower, RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE enters, kneels to hide from WITCH)
Witch: Rapunzel. Rapunzel. Let down your to me.
(RAPUNZEL stops singing and her hair descends. The WITCH climbs up struggling as RAPUNZEL leans forward in pain. RAPUNZEL'S
PRINCE comes from around a tree)
!CONTINUE HERE! with or without "Our Little World"
Rapunzel's Prince: (to himself) Rapunzel, Rapunzel. What a strange name. Strange but beautiful and fit for a prince! Tomorrow,
before that horrible witch arrives, I will stand before her window and ask her to let down her hair to me.
(Baker steps into LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD's path; the girl is eating a sweet as she enters)
Baker: Hello there, little one.
Little Red Ridinghood: Hello.
Baker: Have you saved some of those sweets for Granny?
(he holds on to the edge of LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD'S cape)
Little Red Ridinghood: I ate all of the sweets, and half the loaf of bread.
Baker: Where did you get that beautiful cape? I so admire it.
Little Red Ridinghood: My Granny made it for me.
Baker: Is that Right? I would love a red cloak like that.
(examines the cape)
Little Red Ridinghood: You'd look pretty foolish.
(Baker goes to her and takes her cape)
Baker: May I take a look at it?
Little Red Ridinghood: I don't like to be without my cape. Please give it back!
Baker: (frustrated) I want it badly.
Little Red Ridinghood: Give it back please.
Witch's Voice: Forget the little girl and get the cape!
(BAKER suddenly dashes away with the cape under his arm. LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD stands numb for a moment, then lets out a blood-curdling
scream, followed by hysterical weeping)
Baker: (returning with the cape and placing it on LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD'S shoulders)
I just wanted to make certain that you really loved this cape. Now you go to your Granny's--and you be careful that no wolf
comes your way.
Little Red Ridinghood: I'd rather a wolf than you, any day.
(she stomps BAKER's foot and exits)
Baker: (in pain) IF YOU KNOW
WHAT YOU NEED,
THEN YOU GO
AND YOU FIND IT
AND YOU TAKE IT.
DO I WANT A CHILD OR NOT?
IT'S A CLOAK,
WHAT'S A CLOAK?
ITS A JOKE,
IT'S A STUPID LITTLE CLOAK,
AND A CLOAK IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT.
(nods, convincing himself)
SO YOU TAKE IT.
(with resolve) THINGS ARE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED THEM FOR,
WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS WHO NEEDS THEM MORE--
(MUSIC continues under as BAKER exits
NARRATOR enters)
Narrator: And so the Baker, with new-found determination, went after the red cape. As for the little girl, she was surprised
to find her grandmother's cottage door standing open.
(we see GRANNY's cottage with WOLF, dressed as GRANNY, in bed, covers up and hands near his mouth. the walls of the cottage
are made of scrim. LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD enters)
Little Red Ridinghood: (to herself) Oh dear. How uneasy I feel. Perhaps it's all the sweets.
(towards the bed) Good day, Grandmother.
(moves to the bed) My, Grandmother, you're looking very strange. What big ears you have!
Wolf: The better to hear you with, my dear.
Little Red Ridinghood: But Grandmother, what big eyes you have!
Wolf: The better to see you with, my dear.
Little Red Ridinghood: But Grandmother, what large hands you have!
Wolf: The better to hug you with, my dear.
Little Red Ridinghood: Oh, Grandmother. What a terrible, big, wet mouth you have!
Wolf: The better to eat you with!
(bloodcurdling scream from LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD who disappears)
Narrator: And scarcely had the wolf said this, then with a single bound he was devouring the little girl. Well it was a full
day of eating for the both. And with his appetite appeased, the Wolf took to bed for a nice long nap.
(WOLF snoring, BAKER is outside cottage. Narrator exits)
Baker: That Grandmother has a mighty snore.
(goes up to the window and looks in)
Odd. Where is the little one? Eating no doubt.
(turns to walk away
WOLF belches. BAKER suddenly stops)
Or eaten!
(enters the house and timidly goes over to the bed, his knife stretched before him. he lets out a yelp when he sees the WOLF)
Grandmother, ha!
(BAKER draws the knife back, then stops)
What is that red cloth in the corner of your mouth? Looks to me to be a piece of...ah ha! I'll get that cape from within your
stomach.
(he slits the WOLF's stomach, then recoils in disgust)
Little Red Ridinghood: (stepping out of the WOLF, bloodied)
What a fright! How dark and dank it was inside that wolf.
(GRANNY emerges from WOLF, also bloodied)
Granny: (wheezing, tries to strangle WOLF, who reacts in pain)
Kill the devil. Take that knife and cut his evil head off. Let's see the demon sliced into a thousand bits. Better yet, let
the animal die a painful, agonizing, hideous death.
Little Red Ridinghood: (Shocked) GRANNY!
Granny: Quiet, child. This evil must be destroyed. Fetch me some great stones! We'll fill his belly with them, then we'll
watch him try to run away!
Baker: (faint) Well, I will leave you to your task.
Granny: Don't ya want the skins?
Baker: No. No. You keep them.
Granny: What kind of hunter are you?
Baker: I'm a baker!
(GRANNY pulls him into the house as LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD walks downstage. lights change)
Little Red Ridinghood: MOTHER SAID
"STRAIGHT AHEAD!"
NOT TO DELAY
OR BE MISLED.
I SHOULD HAVE HEEDED
HER ADVICE...
BUT HE SEEMED SO NICE.
AND HE SHOWED ME THINGS,
MANY BEAUTIFUL THINGS,
THAT I HADN'T THOUGHT TO EXPLORE.
THEY WERE OFF MY PATH,
SO I NEVER HAD DARED.
I HAD BEEN SO CAREFUL,
I NEVER HAD CARED.
AND HE MADE ME FEEL EXCITED--
WELL, EXCITED AND SCARED.
WHEN HE SAID "COME IN!"
WITH THAT SICKENING GRIN,
HOW COULD I KNOW WHAT WAS IN STORE?
ONCE HIS TEETH WERE BARED,
THOUGH, I REALLY GOT SCARED--
WELL, EXCITED AND SCARED--
BUT HE DREW ME CLOSE
AND HE SWALLOWED ME DOWN,
DOWN A DARK SLIMY PATH
WHERE LIE SECRETS THAT I NEVER WANT TO KNOW,
AND WHEN EVERYTHING FAMILIAR
SEEMED TO DISAPPEAR FOREVER,
AT THE END OF THE PATH
WAS GRANNY ONCE AGAIN.
SO WE WAIT IN THE DARK
UNTIL SOMEONE LET US FREE,
AND WE'RE BROUGHT INTO THE LIGHT,
AND WE'RE BACK AT THE START.
AND I KNOW THINGS NOW,
MANY VALUABLE THINGS,
THAT I HADN'T KNOWN BEFORE.
DO NOT PUT YOUR FAITH
IN A CAPE AND A HOOD,
THEY WILL NOT PROTECT YOU
THE WAY THAT THEY SHOULD.
AND TAKE EXTRA CARE WITH STRANGERS,
EVEN FLOWERS HAVE THEIR DANGERS.
AND THOUGH SCARY IS EXCITING,
NICE IS DIFFERENT THAN GOOD.
NOW I KNOW:
DON'T BE SCARED.
GRANNY IS RIGHT,
JUST BE PREPARED.
ISN'T NICE TO KNOW A LOT!
AND A LITTLE BIT NOT...
(BAKER appears, dejected)
Little Red Ridinghood: Mr. Baker, you saved our lives. Here.
(she hands him her cape)
Baker: Are you certain?
Little Red Ridinghood: Yes. Maybe Granny will make me another with the skins of that wolf.
Baker: Thank you!
(dancing with joy, kisses her cheek and EXITS as LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD watches. disgusted LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD EXITS. NARRATOR
enters)
Narrator: And so the Baker, with the second article in hand, feeling braver and more satisfied than he had ever felt, ran
back through the woods.
(a cut out of Jacks house rises)
As for the lad Jack--
Jack's Mother: Only a dolt would exchange a cow for beans!
(she throws the beans to the ground)
Jack: Mother, no--
Jack's Mother: To bed without supper for you!
(she marches the boy back into the house)
Narrator: Little did they know those beans would grow into an enormous stalk that would stretch into the heavens.
(NARRATOR exits
BAKER'S WIFE enters upstage tugging at MILKY-WHITE, lantern hangs from the cow's horn; house cut out descends
ball music in the distance, growing louder
CINDERELLA dashes onstage looking over her shoulder, she falls and music stops)
Baker's Wife: (leaves MILKY-WHITE to help)
Are you alright, miss?
Cinderella: (breathless) Yes. I just need to catch my breath.
Baker's Wife: What a beautiful gown you are wearing. Were you at the King's Festival?
Cinderella: (preoccupied) Yes.
Baker's Wife: Aren't you the lucky one. Why ever are you in the woods at this hour?
(ball music in the distance, growing louder. we hear MEN'S VOICES offstage. CINDERELLA signals to BAKER'S WIFE to keep quiet,
then ducks behind a tree. fanfare: CINDERELLA'S PRINCE runs onstage, followed by his STEWARD. They look about for a moment,
notice BAKER'S WIFE, who is curtseying deeply)
Cinderella's Prince: Have you seen a beautiful young woman in a ball gown pass through?
Baker's Wife: I don't think so sir.
Steward: I think I see her over there.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE signals STEWARD off in that direction; then takes another look at BAKER'S WIFE before following. music
continues under)
Baker's Wife: I've never lied to royalty before. I've never anything to royalty before.
Cinderella: (comes out) Thank you.
Baker's Wife: If a prince were looking for me, I certainly wouldn't hide.
Cinderella: What brings you here--and with a cow?
Baker's Wife: Oh, my husband's somewhere in the woods. (proud) He is undoing a spell.
Cinderella: (impressed) Oh?
Baker's Wife: Oh, yes. Now, the Prince, what was he like?
Cinderella: HE'S A VERY NICE PRINCE.
Baker's Wife: And--?
Cinderella: And-- IT'S A VERY NICE BALL.
Baker's Wife: And--?
Cinderella: And-- WHEN I ENTERED, THEY TRUMPETED.
Baker's Wife: And--? The Prince--?
Cinderella: Oh, the Prince...
Baker's Wife: Yes, the Prince!
Cinderella: WELL, HE'S TALL.
Baker's Wife: IS THAT ALL? Did you dance? Is he charming? They say that he's charming.
Cinderella: WE DID NOTHING BUT DANCE.
Baker's Wife: Yes--? And--?
Cinderella: AND IT MADE A NICE CHANGE.
Baker's Wife: No, the Prince!
Cinderella: Oh, the Prince...
Baker's Wife: Yes, the Prince.
Cinderella: HE HAS CHARM FOR A PRINCE, I GUESS...
Baker's Wife: Guess?
Cinderella: I DON'T MEET A WIDE RANGE.
AND IT'S ALL VERY STRANGE.
Baker's Wife: Are you to return to the festival tomorrow eve?
Cinderella: Perhaps.
Baker's Wife: Perhaps? Oh, to be pursued by a Prince. All that pursues me is tomorrow's bread.
(we here the first chime of midnight)
What I wouldn't give to be in your shoes.
(a second chime, chimes continue under)
Cinderella: Will you look over there.
(MILKY-WHITE stands and looks)
An enormous vine growing next to that little cottage.
Baker's Wife: (looking down at Cinderella's feet)
...I mean slippers.
Cinderella: It looks like a giant beanstalk rising into the sky.
Baker's Wife: As pure as gold?
Cinderella: I must get home.
(she begins to leave)
Baker's Wife: Wait!
(CINDERELLA exits)
I need your shoes!
(BAKER'S WIFE starts off after CINDERELLA; MILKY-WHITE lets out a "MOO!" and takes off in the other direction; BAKER'S WIFE
stops, torn between MILKY-WHITE and CINDERELLA.
to CINDERELLA)
Hey!
(to MILKY-WHITE)
Come back here!
(takes off after MILKY-WHITE. final chime of midnight. music continues under.
one by one each of the characters appears moving through the woods, darting in and out of trees and paths, pursuing their
errands, mostly oblivious to the others.
the night turns gradually into dawn. the following lines are spoken rhythmically as each character appears and disappears)
Baker: One midnight gone...
Mysterious Man: No knot unties itself.
Witch: Sometimes the things you most wish for
Are not to be touched.
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: The harder to get, the better to have...
Cinderella's Prince: Agreed?
Rapunzel's Prince: Agreed.
Florinda: Never wear mauve at a ball...
Lucinda: Or pink...
Stepmother: (to FLORINDA and LUCINDA) Or open your mouth...
Jack: (looking up and off at the beanstalk)
The difference between a cow and a bean
Is a bean can begin an adventure...
Jack's Mother: (looking off in JACK's direction)
Slotted spoons don't hold much soup...
Little Red Ridinghood: The prettier the flower, the farther from the path...
Cinderella's Father: The closer to the family, the closer to the wine...
Rapunzel: (offstage) AHHH...
Witch: (reappearing suddenly)
One midnight gone!
Granny: The mouth of a wolf's not the end of the world...
Steward: A servant is not just a dog, to a Prince...
Cinderella: Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor...
Baker's Wife: You may know what you need,
But to get what you want,
Better see that you keep what you have...
(all singing overlapping)
Baker: One midnight gone...
Witch: Sometimes the things you most wish for
Are not to be touched...
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: The harder to get, the better to have...
Cinderella's Prince: Agreed?
Rapunzel's Prince: Agreed...
Baker: One midnight gone...one midnight gone...
Florinda: Never wear mauve at a ball...
Lucinda: Or pink...
Jack's Mother: Slotted spoons don't hold much soup...
Baker's Wife: To get what you want
Better see that you keep what you have...
Little Red Ridinghood: The prettier the flower...
All: One midnight, one midnight, one midnight gone!
INTO THE WOODS,
INTO THE WOODS,
INTO THE WOODS,
THEN OUT OF THE WOODS
AND HOME BEFORE--
(blackout)
END OF SCENE TWO
Act One
Scene 3
(BAKER sleeps under a tree
music; JACK appears suddenly from the trees, carrying an oversized money sack)
Jack (softly, but intense): THERE ARE GIANTS IN THE SKY
THERE ARE BIG TALL TERRIBLE GIANTS IN THE SKY!
WHEN YOU'RE WAY UP HIGH
AND YOU LOOK BELOW
AT THE WORLD YOU LEFT
AND THE THINGS YOU KNOW
LITTLE MORE THAN A GLANCE
IS ENOUGH TO SHOW
YOU JUST HOW SMALL YOU ARE.
WHEN YOU'RE WAY UP HIGH
AND YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN
IN A WORLD LIKE NONE
THAT YOU'VE EVER KNOWN
WHERE THE SKY IS LEAD
AND THE EARTH IS STONE
YOU'RE FREE TO DO
WHATEVER PLEASES YOU,
EXPLORING THINGS YOU'D NEVER DARE
'CAUSE YOU DON'T CARE,
WHEN SUDDENLY THERE'S
A BIG TALL TERRIBLE GIANT AT THE DOOR
A BIG TALL TERRIBLE LADY GIANT SWEEPING THE FLOOR
AND SHE GIVES YOU FOOD
AND SHE GIVES YOU REST
AND SHE DRAWS YOU CLOSE
TO HER GIANT BREAST,
AND YOU KNOW THINGS NOW THAT YOU NEVER KNEW BEFORE,
NOT 'TIL THE SKY.
ONLY JUST WHEN YOU'VE MADE
A FRIEND AND ALL
AND YOU KNOW SHE'S BIG
BUT YOU DON'T FEEL SMALL
SOMEONE BIGGER THAN HER
COMES ALONG THE HALL
TO SWALLOW YOU FOR LUNCH.
AND YOU HEART IS LEAD
AND YOU STOMACH STONE
AND YOU'RE REALLY SCARED
BEING ALL ALONE.
AND IT'S THEN THAT YOU LONG
FOR THE THINGS YOU'VE KNOWN
AND THE WORLD YOU LEFT
AND THE LITTLE YOU OWN.
THE FUN IS DONE.
YOU STEAL WHAT YOU CAN AND RUN.
AND YOU SCRAMBLE DOWN
AND YOU LOOK BELOW,
AND THE WORLD YOU KNOW
BEGINS TO GROW:
THE ROOF, THE HOUSE, AND YOUR MOTHER AT THE DOOR
THE ROOF, THE HOUSE, AND THE WORLD YOU NEVER THOUGHT TO EXPLORE
AND YOU THINK OF ALL OF THE THINGS YOU'VE SEEN,
AND YOU WISH THAT YOU COULD LIVE IN BETWEEN,
AND YOU'RE BACK AGAIN
ONLY DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE
AFTER THE SKY.
THERE ARE GIANTS IN THE SKY!
THERE ARE BIG TALL TERRIBLE AWESOME SCARY WONDERFUL GIANTS IN THE SKY!
(BAKER stirs; JACK bounds over to him)
Jack: Good fortune! Good fortune, sir! Look what I have! Here's five gold pieces.
Baker (astounded): Five gold pieces! (He examines the gold)
Jack: I had more, but Mother made me surrender them. She allowed me these five to do with as I pleased.
Baker: Oh, my;
Jack: (looking around) Where is Milky-White?
Baker: Milky-White is back home with my wife.
Jack: Let's go find them. (JACK starts to leave)
Baker: Wait!
(BAKER returns money to JACK)
I don't know that I wish to sell;
Jack: But you said I might buy her back.
Baker: I know, but I'm not certain that five gold pieces would--
Jack: Are you saying that you wish more money?
Baker: More money is always--
Jack: (hands him gold) Keep this. I will go fetch more.
Baker: Wait. I didn't say--
(JACK exits; BAKER looks at money)
Five gold pieces! With this money I could buy baking supplies for a year. I could buy a new thatched roof and a new chimney.
(MYSTERIOUS MAN appears from nowhere)
Mysterious Man: But could you buy yourself a child?
Baker: (startled) Who are you?
Mysterious Man: When first I appear I seem delirious, but when explained I am nothing serious. Would you buy yourself a child?
Baker: I don't understand.
Mysterious Man: How badly do you want a child? Five gold pieces? Ten? Twenty?
Baker: I've not thought to put a price on it.
Mysterious Man: Exactly.
(He walks over and takes the gold away)
You've not thought about many things, have you son?
Baker: Give me back the money. It's not yours--
Mysterious Man: Nor is it Jack's. The money is not what's important. What's important is that your wish be honored.
(MYSTERIOUS MAN goes around a tree and disappears; BAKER begins darting around looking for him)
Baker: Come back here! Damn! Give me back--
(He sees BAKER'S WIFE who comes from around another tree)
What are you doing here now?
Baker's Wife: (quickly switching gears) I see you've the red cape.
Baker: Yes. I've the cape. Only two items left to locate.
Baker's Wife: Three.
Baker: Two. I've the cape and the cow.
Baker's Wife: You've the cape!
Baker: What have you done with the cow?
Baker's Wife: She ran away, I never reached home. I've been looking for her all night.
Baker: I should have known better than to have entrusted her to you.
Baker's Wife: She might just as easily have run from you!
Baker: But she didn't.
Baker's Wife: But she might have!
Baker: BUT SHE DIDN'T!!!
(WITCH drops from tree)
Witch: WHO CARES! THE COW IS GONE! GET IT BACK! GET IT BACK!!!
(all three settle down)
Baker: (walks over to her) We were just going to do that. Here, I can give you this--
Witch: DON'T GIVE ME THAT, FOOL! I don't want to touch that. Have you no sense?
(hears RAPUNZEL in the background)
My sweetness calls. (tough) By tomorrow midnight--deliver the items or you'll wish you never thought to have a child!
(WITCH puts a spell on them, they double over in pain as WITCH leaves)
Baker: I don't like that woman.
Baker's Wife: (contrite) I'm sorry I lost the cow.
Baker: I shouldn't have yelled. (beat) Now please, go back to the village.
(BAKER'S WIFE annoyed, turns her back and begins to walk away)
I will make things right! And then we can just go about our life. No more hunting about in the woods for strange objects.
No more witches and dim-witted boys and hungry little girls.
(SHE begins to move back towards him)
Go!
(THEY exit in opposite directions)
(TWO FANFARES)
(another part of the forest. CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, somewhat bedraggled, crosses the stage. he is met by RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE)
Rapunzel's Prince: Ah, there you are, good brother. Father and I had wondered where you had gone.
Cinderella's Prince: I have been looking all night for her.
(BAKER'S WIFE appears behind a tree and eavesdrops)
Rapunzel's Prince: Her?
Cinderella's Prince: The beautiful one I danced the evening with.
Rapunzel's Prince: Where did she go?
Cinderella's Prince: Disappeared, like the fine morning mist.
Rapunzel's Prince: She was lovely.
Cinderella's Prince: The loveliest.
Rapunzel's Prince: I am not certain of that! I must confess, I too have found a lovely maiden. She lives here in the woods.
Cinderella's Prince: The woods?
Rapunzel's Prince: Yes. In the top of a tall tower that has no door or stairs.
Cinderella's Prince: Where?
Rapunzel's Prince: Two leagues from here, due east just beyond the mossy knoll.
Cinderella's Prince: And how do you manage a visit?
Rapunzel's Prince: I stand beneath her tower and say "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair to me." And she lowers the longest,
most beautiful head of hair - yellow as corn - which I climb to her.
(BAKER'S WIFE reacts)
Cinderella's Prince: (starts laughing hysterically) Rapunzel, Rapunzel! What kind of name is that? You jest! I have never
heard of such a thing.
Rapunzel's Prince: (defensive) I speak the truth. She is as true as your maiden. A maiden running from a prince? None would
run from us.
Cinderella's Prince: (sober) Yet one has.
DID I ABUSE HER
OR SHOW HER DISDAIN?
WHY DOES SHE RUN FROM ME?
IF I SHOULD LOSE HER
HOW SHALL I REGAIN
THE HEART SHE HAS WON FROM ME?
AGONY!
BEYOND POWER OF SPEECH
WHEN THE ONE THING YOU WANT
IS THE ONLY THING OUT OF YOUR REACH.
Rapunzel's Prince: HIGH IN HER TOWER
SHE SITS BY THE HOUR
MAINTAINING HER HAIR
BLITHE AND BECOMING,
AND FREQUENTLY HUMMING
A LIGHTHEARTED AIR:
(hums RAPUNZEL's theme)
AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH--
AGONY!
FAR MORE PAINFUL THAN YOURS,
WHEN YOU KNOW SHE WOULD GO WITH YOU
IF THERE ONLY WERE DOORS.
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: AGONY!
OH, THE TORTURE THEY TEACH!
Rapunzel's Prince: WHAT'S AS INTRIGUING...
Cinderella's Prince: OR HALF SO FATIGUING...
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: AS WHAT'S OUT OF REACH?
Cinderella's Prince: AM I NOT SENSITIVE, CLEVER,
WELL-MANNERED, CONSIDERATE,
PASSIONATE, CHARMING
AS KIND AS I'M HANDSOME,
AND HEIR TO A THRONE?
Rapunzel's Prince: YOU ARE EVERYTHING MAIDENS COULD WISH FOR!
Cinderella's Prince: THEN WHY NO...
Rapunzel's Prince: DO I KNOW?
Cinderella's Prince: THE GIRL MUST BE MAD!
Rapunzel's Prince: YOU KNOW NOTHING OF MADNESS
'TIL YOU'RE CLIMBING HER HAIR
AND YOU SEE HER UP THERE
AND YOU'RE NEARING HER
ALL THE WHILE HEARING HER
AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH--
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: AGONY
Cinderella's Prince: MISERY!
Rapunzel's Prince: WOE!
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: THOUGH IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EACH.
Cinderella's Prince: ALWAYS TEN STEPS BEHIND...
Rapunzel's Prince: ALWAYS TEN FEET BELOW
Cinderella's Prince: AND SHE'S JUST OUT OF REACH
AGONY
THAT CAN CUT LIKE A KNIFE!
I MUST HAVE HER TO WIFE.
(they exit)
Baker's Wife: Two princes, each more handsome than the other.
(begins to follow the PRINCES; SHE stops)
No! Get the hair
(JACK'S MOTHER enters)
Jack's Mother: Excuse me, young woman. Have you encountered a boy with carrot-top hair and a sunny, though occasionally vague
disposition, answering to the name of Jack?
Baker's Wife: Not the one partial to a white cow?
Jack's Mother: He's the one.
Baker's Wife: Have you seen the cow?
Jack's Mother: No, and I don't care to ever again. (confidential) Children can be very queer about their animals. You be very
careful with your children...
Baker's Wife: I have no children.
Jack's Mother: That's okay too.
Baker's Wife: Yes...well, I've not seen your son today.
Jack's Mother: (annoyed) I hope he didn't go up that beanstalk again. Quit while you're ahead I say.
(SHE begins to exit) Jack...! Jack...!
(WIFE, after a moment's pause, exits in the other direction; BAKER enters)
Baker: (forlorn) Moo...Moo...
(MYSTERIOUS MAN appears from nowhere)
Mysterious Man: Moo! Looking for your cow?
(MYSTERIOUS MAN signals off stage and MILKY-WHITE enters)
Baker: Where did you find her?
(MYSTERIOUS MAN ducks back behind a tree as BAKER goes to cow. HE turns, and sees the old man is gone)
Hello?
(BAKER takes cow and exits. MYSTERIOUS MAN reappears and watches after BAKER. WITCH surprises him. WITCH touches MYSTERIOUS
MAN with her cane. HE falls to the ground, groveling)
Witch: What are you doing?
Mysterious Man: I am here to make amends.
Witch: I want you to stay out of this old man!
Mysterious Man: I am here to see that your wish is granted.
Witch: You've caused enough trouble! Keep out of my path!
(SHE zaps him; HE runs off. SHE follows him. BAKER'S WIFE enters, pulling on a long strand of hair)
Baker's Wife: Excuse me for this.
(SHE yanks hair three times. RAPUNZEL screams more loudly with each pull. On the third yank, the hair falls into the BAKER'S
WIFE's hands; CINDERELLA enters as if pursued; SHE falls at the feet of the BAKER'S WIFE, losing one slipper)
You do take plenty of spills, don't you?
(BAKER'S WIFE picks up the slipper)
Cinderella: Hello. It's these slippers. They're not suited for these surroundings. Actually they're not much suited for dancing
either.
Baker's Wife: I'd say those slippers were as pure as gold.
Cinderella: Yes. They are all you could wish for in beauty.
(CINDERELLA takes the slipper back)
Baker's Wife: What I wouldn't give for just one.
Cinderella: One isn't likely to do you much good. (SHE giggles)
Baker's Wife: Was the ball as wonderful as last evening?
Cinderella: IT'S STILL A NICE BALL
Baker's Wife: Yes...? And...?
Cinderella: And...
THEY HAVE FAR TOO MUCH FOOD.
Baker's Wife: No, the Prince...
Cinderella: Oh, the Prince...
Baker's Wife: Yes, the Prince.
Cinderella: IF HE KNEW WHO I REALLY WAS...
Baker's Wife: Oh? Who?
Cinderella: I'M AFRAID I WAS RUDE.
Baker's Wife: Oh? How?
Cinderella: NOW I'M BEING PURSUED
Baker's Wife: Yes? And...
Cinderella: AND I'M NOT IN THE MOOD
Baker's Wife: He must have really taken a liking to you.
(STEWARD enters the woods with black lantern and staff, searching. CINDERELLA'S PRINCE follows)
Cinderella: I have no experience with Princes and castles and gowns.
Baker's Wife: Nonsense, every girl dreams...
Steward: Look, sir. Look!
Cinderella's Prince: Yes. There she is. Move. Move. Move.
Cinderella: I must run!
(BAKER'S WIFE grabs a shoe)
Baker's Wife: And I must have your shoe!
Cinderella: Stop that!
(The two engage in a tug-of-war over the shoe as dialogue elapses)
Baker's Wife: I need it to have a baby!
Cinderella: And I need it to get out of here!
(CINDERELLA wins the battle over the shoe, and desperately runs off; BAKER'S WIFE is embarrassed by her own behavior. SHE
straightens herself up as CINDERELLA'S PRINCE with STEWARD bound onstage, only to curtsey again)
Steward: Where did she go?
Baker's Wife: Who?
Steward: Don't play the fool, woman!
Baker's Wife: Oh, you mean the beautiful young maiden in the ball gown? She went in that direction. I was trying to hold her
here for you...
Cinderella's Prince: I can capture my own damsel, thank you.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE begins to go of towards CINDERELLA)
Baker's Wife: Yes, sir.
(PRINCE and STEWARD dash off-stage. We hear STEPSISTERS and STEPMOTHER. They enter, first looking behind them then looking
towards CINDERELLA'S PRINCE)
Stepmother: (to BAKER'S WIFE) Where did he go?
Baker's Wife: Who?
Lucinda: The Prince, of course!
Baker's Wife: That direction. But you'll never reach them!
Florinda: We would have if that mongrel with the cow hadn't molested us.
Baker's Wife: Cow?
(STEPSISTERS giggle. BAKER runs onstage with MILKY-WHITE. They are both out of breath)
Baker: (holding up an ear of corn) Please, let me just compare this color with that of your own.
(THEY chortle as they exit
there is a long moment of silence. BAKER'S WIFE and BAKER stare at each other)
Baker: (Dejected) I thought you were returning home. (angry) I've had no luck.
Baker's Wife: You've the cow!
Baker: Yes. I've the cow. We've only two of the four.
(MILKY-WHITE continues to breathe heavily)
Baker's Wife: Three.
Baker: Two!
Baker's Wife: (Pulls the hair from her pocket)
Three. Compare this to your corn.
(BAKER does so and smiles)
Baker: Where did you find it?
Baker's Wife: (false modesty) I pulled it from a maiden in a tower.
Baker: (looking at hair) Three!
Baker's Wife: And I almost had the fourth, but she got away.
Baker: We've one entire day left. Surely we can locate the slipper by then.
Baker's Wife: We? You mean you'll allow me to stay?
Baker: Well...perhaps it will take the two of us to get this child.
Baker's Wife: YOU'VE CHANGED,
YOU'RE DARING
YOU'RE DIFFERENT IN THE WOODS
MORE SURE
MORE SHARING
YOU'RE GETTING US THROUGH THE WOODS
IF YOU COULD SEE...
YOU'RE NOT THE MAN WHO STARTED,
AND MUCH MORE OPENHEARTED
THAN I KNEW
YOU TO BE.
Baker: IT TAKES TWO
I THOUGHT ONE WAS ENOUGH,
IT'S NOT TRUE:
IT TAKES TWO OF US.
YOU CAME THROUGH
WHEN THE JOURNEY WAS ROUGH
IT TOOK YOU
IT TOOK TWO OF US.
IT TAKES CARE,
IT TAKES PATIENCE AND FEAR AND DESPAIR
TO CHANGE
THOUGH YOU SWEAR TO CHANGE
WHO CAN TELL IF YOU DO?
IT TAKES TWO.
Baker's Wife: YOU'VE CHANGED.
YOU'RE THRIVING.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE WOODS.
NOT JUST SURVIVING
YOU'RE BLOSSOMING IN THE WOODS
AT HOME I FEAR
WE'D BE THE SAME FOREVER,
AND THEN OUT HERE...
YOU'RE PASSIONATE, CHARMING, CONSIDERATE, CLEVER...
Baker: IT TAKES ONE
TO BEGIN, BUT THEN ONCE
YOU'VE BEGUN
IT TAKES TWO OF YOU.
IT'S NO FUN
BUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
YOU CAN DO
WHEN THERE'S TWO OF YOU.
IF I DARE
IT'S BECAUSE I'M BECOMING
AWARE OF US
AS A PAIR OF US,
EACH ACCEPTING A SHARE
OF WHAT'S THERE.
Baker, Baker's Wife: WE'VE CHANGED
WE'RE STRANGERS
I'M MEETING YOU IN THE WOODS
WHO MINDS
WHAT DANGERS?
I KNOW WE'LL GET PAST THE WOODS.
AND ONCE WE'RE PAST
LET'S HOPE THE CHANGES LAST
BEYOND WOODS
BEYOND WITCHES AND SLIPPERS AND HOODS,
JUST THE TWO OF US
BEYOND LIES,
SAFE AT HOME WITH OUR BEAUTIFUL PRIZE,
JUST A FEW OF US
IT TAKES TRUST.
IT TAKES JUST A BIT MORE
AND WE'RE DONE.
WE WANT FOUR
WE HAD NONE
WE'VE GOT THREE
WE NEED ONE
IT TAKES TWO.
(we hear the slow chimes of midnight begin; a hen dashes onstage, closely followed by JACK)
Jack: STOP HER! STOP THAT HEN!
(BAKER grabs hen)
Oh providence! My Milky-White.
(JACK gives the cow a kiss)
And the owners. And my hen!
Baker: (squeals) Look what this hen has dropped in my hand!
Baker's Wife: (excited) A golden egg! I've never seen a golden egg!
(first chime of midnight)
Jack: You see. I promised you more than the five gold pieces I gave you, sir.
Baker's Wife: Five gold pieces?
Baker: (to JACK) Now, I never said I would sell...
Jack: But you took the five gold pieces.
Baker's Wife: You took five gold pieces!
Baker: I didn't take, you gave.
Baker's Wife: Where are the five gold pieces?
Baker: An old man...
(JACK goes to take MILKY-WHITE. BAKER holds her rope from him
Simultaneous dialogue)
Jack: (getting upset) You said I could have my cow!
Baker: Now, I never said you could. I said you might.
Baker's Wife: You would take money before a child!
(MILKY-WHITE lets out a terrible yelp, and falls to the ground, dead. silence)
Jack: Milky-White is dead...
Baker's Wife: Two!
(blackout
last chime of midnight
music under
One by one, the characters appear and disappear, as in the "first midnight," speaking their lines in rhythm, as night changes
into dawn)
Witch: Two midnights gone!
Cinderella: Wanting a ball is not wanting a Prince...
Cinderella's Prince: Near may be better than far,
But it still isn't there...
Rapunzel's Prince: overlapping Near may be better than far,
But it still isn't there...
Cinderella: The Ball...
Cinderella's Prince: So near...
Rapunzel's Prince: So far...
Stepmother: You can never love somebody else's child--
Florinda, Lucinda: Two midnights gone!
Stepmother: --The way you love--
Cinderella's Prince: So near...
Stepmother: --Your own.
Cinderella: The Prince...
Cinderella's Prince: So far...
Granny: The greatest prize can often lie
At the end of the thorniest path...
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: Two midnights gone!
Two midnights gone!
Stepmother, Florinda, Lucinda: (overlapping) Two midnights,
Two midnights gone!
Granny: (overlapping) Two midnights gone!
END OF SCENE THREE
Act One
Scene 4
(as the lights come up, we see the BAKER'S WIFE and the BAKER, bedraggled and exhausted)
Narrator: Two midnights gone. And the exhausted baker and his wife buried the dead Milky-White, believing that when the witch
said a cow as white as milk, she was referring to a live one.
Baker: You must go to the village in search of another cow.
Baker's Wife: And what do you propose I use to buy this cow?
Baker: (takes remaining bean from pocket) Here. Tell them it's magic.
Baker's Wife: No person with a brain larger than this is going to exchange a cow for a bean.
Baker: (losing patience) Then steal it.
Baker's Wife: (angry) Steal it? Just two days ago, you were accusing me of exercising deceit in securing the cow.
Baker: Then don't steal it and resign yourself to a childless life.
Baker's Wife: (calm, but cold) I feel it best you go for the cow, as I have met a maiden with a golden slipper these previous
eves, and I think I might succeed in winning one of her shoes.
Baker: Fine. That is simply fine.
(BAKER'S WIFE gathers her things and begins to exit in one direction, the BAKER in the other; we hear RAPUNZEL scream; they
run off in fear)
Narrator: Unfortunately for Rapunzel--
Rapunzel: (offstage) No!
Narrator: --the witch discovered her affections for the Prince before he could spirit her away.
(WITCH drags RAPUNZEL on. music)
Witch: WHAT DID I CLEARLY SAY?
CHILDREN MUST LISTEN.
(grabs RAPUNZEL's hair, takes out scissors)
Rapunzel: No, no, please!
Witch: WHAT WERE YOU NOT TO DO?
CHILDREN MUST SEE--
Rapunzel: No!
Witch: AND LEARN.
(RAPUNZEL screams in protest)
WHY COULD YOU NOT OBEY?
CHILDREN SHOULD LISTEN.
WHAT HAVE I BEEN TO YOU?
WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME BE?
HANDSOME LIKE A PRINCE?
(RAPUNZEL whimpers)
AH, BUT I AM OLD.
I AM UGLY.
I EMBARRASS YOU.
Rapunzel: No!
Witch: YOU ARE ASHAMED OF ME.
Rapunzel: No!
Witch: YOU ARE ASHAMED.
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.
(music continues under)
Rapunzel: It was lonely atop that tower.
Witch: I was not company enough?
Rapunzel: I am no longer a child. I wish to see the world.
Witch: (tender, but intense) DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT'S OUT THERE IN THE WORLD?
SOMEONE HAS TO SHIELD YOU FROM THE WORLD.
STAY WITH ME.
PRINCES WAIT THERE IN THE WORLD, IT'S TRUE.
PRINCES, YES, BUT WOLVES AND HUMANS, TOO.
STAY AT HOME.
I AM HOME.
WHO OUT THERE COULD LOVE YOU MORE THAN I?
WHAT OUT THERE THAT I CANNOT SUPPLY?
STAY WITH ME.
STAY WITH ME.
THE WORLD IS DARK AND WILD.
STAY A CHILD WHILE YOU CAN BE A CHILD.
WITH ME.
(RAPUNZEL just whimpers; music continues under)
I gave you protection and yet you disobeyed me.
Rapunzel: No!
Witch: Why didn't you tell me you had a visitor?
(RAPUNZEL keeps whimpering; music crescendos)
I will not share you, but I will show you a world you've never seen.
(she cuts RAPUNZEL'S hair)
Rapunzel: No! NO!
(WITCH drags RAPUNZEL off. BAKER enters, followed by MYSTERIOUS MAN)
Mysterious Man: When is a white cow not a white cow?
Baker: I don't know! Leave me alone?
Mysterious Man: Haven't I left you alone long enough?
Baker: Your questions make no sense, old man! Go away!
MYSTERIOUS MAN: In need of another cow?
(he drops sack of gold; BAKER turns around at the sound of the falling coins; MYSTERIOUS MAN exits as BAKER picks up the money
and exits. JACK comes upon LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD, who wears a cape made of wolf skins. She walks with a certain bravado)
Jack: What a beautiful cape!
(LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD swerves around, brandishing a knife)
Little Red Ridinghood: Stay away from my cape or I'll slice you into a thousand bits!
Jack: (stepping back) I don't want it! I was just admiring it!
Little Red Ridinghood: (proud) My granny made it for me from a wolf that attacked us. And I got to skin the animal--and best
of all, she gave me this beautiful knife for protection.
Jack: (competitive) Well, look what I have. A hen that lays golden eggs.
Little Red Ridinghood: (suspicious) I don't believe that egg came from that hen. Where did you get that egg?
Jack: I stole this from the kingdom of the giant--up there. And if you think this is something, you should see the golden
harp the giant has. It plays the most beautiful tunes without your even having to touch it.
Little Red Ridinghood: (smirking) Of course it does. Why don't you go up to the kingdom right now and bring it back and show
me?
Jack: I could.
Little Red Ridinghood: You could not!
Jack: I could!
Little Red Ridinghood: You could not, Mr. Liar!
(she makes a hasty exit)
Jack: I am not a liar. I'll get that harp. You'll see!
(he exits)
Narrator: After having cast out Rapunzel to a remote desert, the witch returned to take the Prince by surprise.
(Rapunzel's tower. RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE climbs Rapunzel's hair, when suddenly the WITCH pops out from the tower)
Witch: You would fetch your dearest, but the bird no longer sits in her cage.
(the WITCH pushes RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE from the tower. He falls and screams, grabbing his eyes. The WITCH laughs with delight)
Narrator: And unfortunately, the Prince fell into a patch of thorns which pierced his eyes and blinded him.
(RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE stumbles helplessly offstage)
As for Cinderella, she returned from her final visit to the Festival.
(lights dim. CINDERELLA hobbles onstage, wearing but one shoe)
Cinderella: HE'S A VERY NICE PRINCE,
HE'S A PRINCE WHO PREPARES.
KNOWING THIS TIME I'D RUN FROM HIM,
HE SPREAD PITCH ON THE STAIRS.
I WAS CAUGHT UNAWARES.
AND I THOUGHT: WELL, HE CARES--
THIS IS MORE THAN JUST MALICE.
BETTER STOP AND TAKE STOCK
WHILE YOU'RE STANDING HERE STUCK
ON THE STEPS OF THE PALACE.
YOU THINK, WHAT DO YOU WANT?
YOU THINK, MAKE A DECISION.
WHY NOT STAY AND BE CAUGHT?
YOU THINK, WELL, IT'S A THOUGHT,
WHAT WOULD BE HIS RESPONSE?
BUT THEN WHAT IF HE KNEW
WHO YOU WERE WHEN YOU KNOW
THAT YOU'RE NOT WHAT HE THINKS
THAT HE WANTS?
AND THEN WHAT IF YOU ARE
WHAT A PRINCE WOULD ENVISION?
ALTHOUGH HOW CAN YOU KNOW
WHO YOU ARE TILL YOU KNOW
WHAT YOU WANT, WHICH YOU DON'T?
SO THEN WHICH DO YOU PICK:
WHERE YOU'RE SAFE, OUT OF SIGHT,
AND YOURSELF, BUT WHERE EVERYTHING'S WRONG?
OR WHERE EVERYTHING'S RIGHT
AND YOU KNOW THAT YOU'LL NEVER BELONG?
AND WHICHEVER YOU PICK,
DO IT QUICK,
'CAUSE YOU'RE STARTING TO STICK
TO THE STEPS OF THE PALACE.
IT'S YOUR FIRST BIG DECISION,
THE CHOICE ISN'T EASY TO MAKE.
TO ARRIVE AT A BALL
IS EXCITING AND ALL--
ONCE YOU'RE THERE, THOUGH, IT'S SCARY.
AND IT'S FUN TO DECEIVE
WHEN YOU KNOW YOU CAN LEAVE,
BUT YOU HAVE TO BE WARY.
THERE'S A LOT THAT'S AT STAKE,
BUT YOU'VE STALLED LONG ENOUGH
'CAUSE YOU'RE STILL STANDING STUCK
IN THE STUFF ON THE STEPS...
BETTER RUN ALONG HOME
AND AVOID THE COLLISION.
EVEN THOUGH THEY DON'T CARE,
YOU'LL BE BETTER OFF THERE
WHERE THERE'S NOTHING TO CHOOSE,
SO THERE'S NOTHING TO LOSE.
SO YOU PRY UP YOUR SHOES.
THEN FROM OUT OF THE BLUE,
AND WITHOUT ANY GUIDE,
YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DECISION IS,
WHICH IS NOT TO DECIDE.
YOU'LL JUST LEAVE HIM A CLUE:
FOR EXAMPLE, A SHOE.
AND THEN SEE WHAT HE'LL DO.
NOW IT'S HE AND NOT YOU
WHO IS STUCK WITH A SHOE,
IN A STEW,
IN THE GOOD, AND YOU'VE LEARNED SOMETHING, TOO,
SOMETHING YOU NEVER KNEW,
ON THE STEPS OF THE PALACE.
(BAKER'S WIFE races onstage)
Don't come any closer to me!
Baker's Wife: (breathless) Please, just hear me out!
Cinderella: We have nothing to discuss. You have attacked me once before--
Baker's Wife: I did not attack you! I attacked your shoe. I need it.
(CINDERELLA begins to run away. BAKER'S WIFE reaches into her pocket)
Here. Here is a magic bean in exchange for it.
(CINDERELLA stops, BAKER'S WIFE hands her the bean)
Cinderella: Magic bean?
(takes bean, looks at it)
Nonsense!
(throws the bean away)
Baker's Wife: Don't do that!
(drops to the ground and searches for the bean)
Cinderella: I've already given up one shoe this evening. My feet cannot bear to give up another.
(begins to leave)
Baker's Wife: (rising, desperate) I need that shoe to have a child!
Cinderella: That makes no sense!
(we hear rumblings in the distance)
Baker's Wife: Does it make sense that you're running from a Prince?
Steward: (offstage) Stop!
Baker's Wife: Here. Take my shoes. You'll run faster.
(BAKER'S WIFE gives CINDERELLA her shoes, and takes the golden slipper. CINDERELLA exits. STEWARD bounds onstage; looks about)
Steward: Who was that woman?
Baker's Wife: I do not know, sir.
Steward: Lying will cost you your life!
(BAKER enters with another cow)
Baker's Wife: I've done nothing...
Baker: I've the cow.
Baker's Wife: (excitedly, to BAKER) The slipper! We've all four!
(she runs to the BAKER)
Steward: (Goes to BAKER'S WIFE and takes the shoe) I will give this to the Prince and we will search the kingdom tomorrow
for the maiden who will fit this shoe.
Baker's Wife: (tries to grab slipper back) It's mine!
(they begin to struggle; MYSTERIOUS MAN comes from around a tree) I don't care if this costs me my life--
Mysterious Man: (simultaneously) Give her the slipper and all will--
(suddenly there is the sound of crackling wood, followed by an enormous thud. This noise is frighteningly loud: very bass,
with the kind of reverberation that will shake the audience. All action on stage stops. There is a moment of stunned silence.
CINDERELLA'S PRINCE races onstage)
Cinderella's Prince: What was that noise?
Steward: Just a bolt of lightning in a far-off kingdom.
Cinderella's Prince: (to STEWARD) How dare you go off in search without me!
Steward: My apologies, sir. I thought that I might--
Cinderella's Prince: Enough of what you thought! I employed a ruse and had the entire staircase smeared with pitch. And there,
when she ran down, remained the maiden's slipper.
(he produces the slipper)
Steward: Brilliant!
Cinderella's Prince: I thought so. It did create quite a mess when the other guests left.
Steward: And sir, I have succeeded in obtaining the other slipper!
Mysterious Man: (to STEWARD) Give them the slipper, and all will come to a happy end.
Steward: Who are you, old man?
Mysterious Man: When first I appear, I seem deleterious--
Steward: Shut up!
Cinderella's Prince: Do as he says. He's obviously a spirit of some sort, and we only need one.
Steward: Oh...
(he hands slipper to BAKER'S WIFE. loud scream. JACK'S MOTHER comes running onstage, still screaming)
Jack's Mother: (hysterical; she bows) There's a dead giant in my backyard!
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE shoots STEWARD a look)
(more hysterical) I heard Jack coming down the beanstalk, calling for his axe. And when he raced to the bottom, he took it
and began hacking down the stalk. Suddenly, with a crash, the beanstalk fell, but there was no Jack. For all I know, he's
been crushed by the ogre.
(she cries; long pause; CINDERELLA'S PRINCE goes to her)
Cinderella's Prince: Worrying will do you no good. If he's safe, then he's safe. If he's been crushed, well, then there's
nothing any of us can do about that, now is there?
(to STEWARD) We must be off. I need my rest before tomorrow's search is to commence.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE and STEWARD begin to exit)
Jack's Mother: Doesn't anyone care a giant has fallen from the sky?
Cinderella's Prince: (stops) He is dead, isn't he?
Jack's Mother: With such a thud, I would suppose.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE nods, and exits with STEWARD. WITCH appears, frantic; looks up to the sky)
Witch: (unpleasant) The third midnight is near. I see a cow. I see a slipper.
Baker: (pulling items from his bag) And the cape as red as blood.
Baker's Wife: And the hair as yellow as corn.
Witch: (amazed) You've all the objects?
Baker's Wife: Yes. (she brings the cow forth)
Witch: That cow doesn't look as white as milk to me.
Baker's Wife: (moving towards cow) Oh, she is. (patting cow) She is!
(white powder flies about as BAKER'S WIFE pats the cow. BAKER pulls her away as WITCH approaches)
Witch: This cow has been covered with flour!
Baker: We had a cow as white as milk. Honestly we did.
Witch: Then where is she?
Baker's Wife: She's dead.
Baker: We thought you'd prefer a live cow.
Witch: Of course I'd prefer a live cow! So bring me the dead cow and I'll bring her back to life!
Baker: You could do that?
Witch: Now!
(WITCH zaps BAKER with lightning; WITCH, BAKER'S WIFE and BAKER scamper upstage towards MILKY-WHITE'S grave and we see dirt
flying into the air as they dig into the grave; JACK comes running onstage with a golden harp that sings)
Jack's Mother: (relieved) There you are! (she hits him) I've been worried sick.
Jack: Mother, look. The most beautiful harp. (he hands harp to her)
Jack's Mother: You've stolen too much! You could have been killed coming down that plant.
Baker: (offstage) She's too heavy.
Jack: What's happening?
Jack's Mother: Milky-White is dead, but don't worry. They're going to bring her back to life!
(WITCH waves her hand, causing a puff of smoke. MILKY-WHITE suddenly stands, restored to life. BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE bring
cow forward.)
Jack: Milky-White! Now I have two friends. A cow and a harp.
Witch: Quiet! Feed the objects to the cow!
Jack, Baker's Wife, Baker: What?
Witch: You heard me. Feed them to the cow.
(music; the BAKER begins to feed MILKY-WHITE the objects. With great effort, the cow chews them, and with greater effort,
swallows. We hear the first chime of midnight. The remaining eleven sound through the rest of the scene. All stare intently
at the cow. The WITCH pulls a silver goblet from her cloak and gives it to the BAKER)
Fill this!
Jack: (going to MILKY-WHITE) I'll do it. She'll milk only for me. Squeeze, pal.
(Jack milks her feverishly. Nothing. WITCH goes and takes the goblet back; she turns it upside down)
Witch: Wrong ingredients. Forget about a child.
Baker's Wife: Wait! We followed your instructions. One, the cow is as white as milk, correct?
Witch: Yes.
Baker's Wife: And two, the cape was certainly as red as blood.
Witch: Yes.
Baker's Wife: And three, the slipper--
Witch: Yes.
Baker: And four, I compared the hair with this ear of corn.
Baker's Wife: I pulled it from a maiden in a tower and--
Witch: YOU WHAT?! What were you doing there?
Baker's Wife: Well, I happened to be passing by--
Witch: I touched that hair! Don't you understand? I cannot have touched any of the ingredients!
Baker, Baker's Wife: (moaning) Nooooo...
(MYSTERIOUS MAN comes from around a tree)
Mysterious Man: The corn! The corn!
Baker: What?
Mysterious Man: The silky hair of the corn. Pull it from the ear and feed it to the cow. Quickly!
(BAKER does so, hurriedly)
Witch: This had better work, old man, before the last stroke of midnight, or your son will be the last of your flesh and blood.
Baker: Son?
Mysterious Man: (to WITCH) Please. Not now.
Witch: Yes. Meet your father. (she moves to cow)
Baker: FATHER? Could that be you? I thought you died in a baking accident.
Mysterious Man: I didn't want to run away from you, son, but--
(MILKY-WHITE lets out a bloodcurdling moan and begins to shake feverishly)
Baker's Wife: It's working!
(COW squeals)
Jack: She's milking!
Baker: (to MYSTERIOUS MAN) I don't understand.
Mysterious Man: Not now! (to BAKER'S WIFE) Into the cup!
(BAKER'S WIFE holds goblet under MILKY-WHITE's udder as JACK milks; all eyes are on the cow. BAKER'S WIFE hands the filled
goblet to the WITCH; BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE dance with joy as WITCH drinks potion. They go to her)
Baker: We've given you what you wish.
Baker's Wife: Now when can we expect a child?
(WITCH begins to shake and move away)
Baker: What's wrong? What's happening?
Baker's Wife: Wait. Where are you going?
(the last stroke of midnight)
Mysterious Man: (falling to the ground) Son! Son!
Baker: (going to MYSTERIOUS MAN's side) Father!
(MYSTERIOUS MAN lets out a groan)
Mysterious Man: All is repaired. (he dies)
Baker: He's dead!
(WITCH with a flourish turns around. She has been transformed into a beautiful woman. Blackout)
END OF SCENE FOUR
Act One
Scene 5
Narrator: (entering) And so the Mysterious Man died, having helped end the curse on his house. For the Baker, there would
be no reunion with his father, and he and his wife, bewildered, returned home.
(BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE exit)
The Witch, who had been punished with age and ugliness that night when her beans had been stolen and the lightning flashed,
was now returned to her former state of youth and beauty.
(WITCH strikes pose, then exits)
And Milky-White, after a night of severe indigestion, was reunited with the now wealthy Jack.
(JACK and JACK'S MOTHER exit with MILKY-WHITE and harp)
As for the Prince...
(fanfare)
...he began his search for the foot to fit the golden slipper.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE and STEWARD enter on horseback)
When he came to Cinderella's house, Cinderella's stepmother took the slipper into Florinda's room.
(FLORINDA tries on shoe; STEPMOTHER struggles to help her; LUCINDA watches)
Florinda: CAREFUL, MY TOE--!
Stepmother: DARLING, I KNOW--
Florinda: WHAT'LL WE DO?
Stepmother: IT'LL HAVE TO GO--
(FLORINDA reacts as STEPMOTHER suddenly brandishes a knife)
BUT WHEN YOU'RE HIS BRIDE
YOU CAN SIT OR RIDE.
YOU'LL NEVER NEED TO WALK!
(looks at her encouragingly, then cuts off FLORINDA's toe as FLORINDA reacts in pain. FLORINDA limps to CINDERELLA'S PRINCE,
and is seated on horse)
Narrator: The girl obeyed, swallowing the pain, and joined the Prince on his horse, riding off to become his bride.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, with FLORINDA on horseback, arrives at the grace of CINDERELLA'S MOTHER; birds cry from the tree)
Cinderella's Mother: LOOK AT THE BLOOD WITHIN THE SHOE;
THIS ONE IS NOT THE BRIDE THAT'S TRUE.
SEARCH FOR THE FOOT THAT FITS.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE looks at FLORINDA's foot and sees blood trickling from the shoe. they return to CINDERELLA's home)
Narrator: The Prince returned the false bride, and asked the other sister to put on the shoe.
(STEPMOTHER tries forcing shoe onto LUCINDA's foot)
Lucinda: (struggling with the shoe) WHY WON'T IT FIT?
Stepmother: (holding the knife) DARLING, BE STILL.
CUT OFF A BIT
OF THE HEEL AND IT WILL.
AND WHEN YOU'RE HIS WIFE
YOU'LL HAVE SUCH A LIFE,
YOU'LL NEVER NEED TO WALK!
(looks at LUCINDA encouragingly as she cuts off LUCINDA's heel)
Narrator: The girl obeyed and swallowed her pain. But as she was helped on the back of the horse by the Prince, he noticed
blood trickling from the shoe.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE takes shoe off LUCINDA, pours blood from it, and, ashen, returns it to STEPMOTHER)
Cinderella's Prince: Have you no other daughters?
Narrator: To which the woman replied:
Stepmother: No, only a little stunted kitchen wench which his late wife left behind, but she is much too dirty; she cannot
show herself.
Cinderella's Prince: I insist.
Narrator: And when Cinderella presented herself and tried on the blood-soaked slipper, it fit like a glove.
Cinderella's Prince: This is the true bride!
Cinderella's Father: I always wanted a son!
(CINDERELLA'S FATHER is admonished by STEPMOTHER, FLORINDA, and LUCINDA
fanfare)
Narrator: Much to the dismay of the stepmother and her daughters, he took Cinderella on his horse and rode off.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE and CINDERELLA ride up to the grave)
Cinderella's Mother: NO BLOOD AT ALL WITHIN THE SHOE;
THIS IS THE PROPER BRIDE FOR YOU,
FIT TO ATTEND A PRINCE.
(during the following, RAPUNZEL wanders in, singing fragmentally, carrying twin babies. at the same time, RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE
stumbles on from a different direction; RAPUNZEL sees him and falls into his arms, weeping)
Narrator: And finally, as for Rapunzel, she bore twins, and lived impoverished in the desert until the day her Prince, wandering
aimlessly, heard a voice so familiar that he went towards it. And when he approached, Rapunzel, overjoyed at seeing him, fell
into his arms, weeping. Two of her tears wetted his eyes and their touch restored his vision.
(RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE, sight restored, springs to his feet. WITCH comes from around a tree)
Witch: (to RAPUNZEL) I was going to come fetch you as soon as you learned your lesson.
Rapunzel: Who are you?
Witch: Surely you remember.
Rapunzel: Mother?
Witch: This is who I truly am. Come with me, child. We can be happy as we once were.
(offers RAPUNZEL her hand)
Rapunzel's Prince: (pulling RAPUNZEL back) She will not go with you!
Witch: Let her speak for herself!
(RAPUNZEL shakes her head "no")
You are the only family I know.
(holds out her hand)
Come with me. Please.
(RAPUNZEL shakes her head "no")
You give me no choice!
(WITCH attempts to put a spell on them, but only a pathetic puff of smoke comes out her cane. she tries again, and again nothing.
RAPUNZEL and RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE shrug and exit)
Narrator: As is often the way in these tales, in exchange for her youth and beauty, the Witch lost her power over others.
(WITCH, frustrated, breaks her cane and exits)
When the wedding with the Prince was celebrated, Florinda and Lucinda attended, wishing to win favor with Cinderella and share
in her good fortune.
(CINDERELLA, in her wedding gown, and CINDERELLA'S PRINCE enter with LUCINDA and FLORINDA at their sides)
But as the sisters stood by the blessed couple, pigeons swooped down upon them and poked out their eyes and punished them
with blindness.
(FLORINDA and LUCINDA are blinded by pigeons descending and stagger offstage, screaming. BAKER'S WIFE enters, very pregnant)
Baker's Wife: I see your Prince has found you.
Cinderella: Yes.
Baker's Wife: (patting her belly) Thank you for the slipper.
(BAKER enters)
Cinderella: I DIDN'T THINK I'D WED A PRINCE.
Cinderella's Prince: I DIDN'T THINK I'D EVER FIND YOU.
Cinderella, Cinderella's Prince, Baker, Baker's Wife: I DIDN'T THINK I COULD BE SO HAPPY!...
(ALL come onstage)
Narrator: And it came to pass, all that seemed wrong was now right, the kingdoms were filled with joy, and those who deserved
to were certain to live a long and happy life.
Ever after...
All Except Narrator: EVER AFTER!
Narrator: JOURNEY OVER, ALL IS MENDED,
AND IT'S NOT JUST FOR TODAY,
BUT TOMORROW, AND EXTENDED,
EVER AFTER!
All Except Narrator: EVER AFTER!
Narrator: ALL THE CURSES HAVE BEEN ENDED,
THE REVERSES WIPED AWAY.
ALL IS TENDERNESS AND LAUGHTER
FOR FOREVER AFTER!
All Except Narrator: HAPPY NOW AND HAPPY HENCE
AND HAPPY EVER AFTER!
Narrator: THEY WERE DANGERS--
All Except Narrator: WE WERE FRIGHTENED--
Narrator: AND CONFUSIONS--
All Except Narrator: BUT WE HID IT--
Narrator: AND THE PATHS WOULD OFTEN SWERVE.
All Except Narrator: WE DID NOT.
Narrator: THERE WERE CONSTANT--
All Except Narrator: IT'S AMAZING--
Narrator: DISILLUSIONS--
All Except Narrator: THAT WE DID IT.
Narrator: BUT THEY NEVER LOST THEIR NERVE.
All Except Narrator: NOT A LOT.
Narrator and Men: AND THEY/WE REACHED THE RIGHT CONCLUSIONS
Narrator and Women: AND THEY/WE GOT WHAT THEY/WE DESERVED!
All: NOT A SIGH AND NOT A SORROW,
TENDERNESS AND LAUGHTER.
JOY TODAY AND BLISS TOMORROW,
AND FOREVER AFTER!
(FLORINDA and LUCINDA enter, blind and limping, and make their way to the front of the stage)
Florinda: I WAS GREEDY.
Lucinda: I WAS VAIN.
Florinda: I WAS HAUGHTY.
Lucinda: I WAS SMUG.
Florinda and Lucinda: WE WERE HAPPY.
Lucinda: IT WAS FUN.
Florinda: BUT WE WERE BLIND.
Florinda and Lucinda: THEN WE WENT INTO THE WOODS
TO GET OUR WISH,
AND NOW WE'RE REALLY BLIND.
(WITCH enters)
Witch: I WAS PERFECT.
I HAD EVERYTHING BUT BEAUTY.
I HAD POWER,
AND A DAUGHTER LIKE A FLOWER,
IN A TOWER.
THEN I WENT INTO THE WOODS
TO GET MY WISH,
AND NOW I'M ORDINARY.
LOST MY POWER AND MY FLOWER.
Florinda and Lucinda: (overlapping) WE'RE UNWORTHY.
Witch, Florinda, and Lucinda: WE'RE/I'M UNHAPPY NOW, UNHAPPY HENCE,
AS WELL AS EVER AFTER.
HAD WE USED OUR COMMON SENSE,
BEEN WORTHY OF OUR DISCONTENTS--
Company: TO BE HAPPY, AND FOREVER,
YOU MUST SEE YOUR WISH COME TRUE.
DON'T BE CAREFUL, DON'T BE CLEVER,
WHEN YOU SEE YOUR WISH, PURSUE.
IT'S A DANGEROUS ENDEAVOR,
BUT THE ONLY THING TO DO--
(in three groups)
THOUGH IT'S FEARFUL,
THOUGH IT'S DEEP, THOUGH IT'S DARK,
AND THOUGH YOU MAY LOSE THE PATH,
THOUGH YOU MAY ENCOUNTER WOLVES,
YOU MUSTN'T STOP,
YOU MUSTN'T SWERVE,
YOU MUSTN'T PONDER,
YOU HAVE TO ACT!
WHEN YOU KNOW YOUR WISH,
IF YOU WANT YOUR WISH,
YOU CAN HAVE YOUR WISH,
BUT YOU CAN'T JUST WISH--
NO, TO GET YOUR WISH
(in unison)
YOU GO INTO THE WOODS,
WHERE NOTHING'S CLEAR,
WHERE WITCHES, GHOSTS,
AND WOLVES APPEAR.
INTO THE WOODS
AND THROUGH THE FEAR,
YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE JOURNEY.
INTO THE WOODS
AND DOWN THE DELL,
IN VAIN PERHAPS,
BUT WHO CAN TELL?
INTO THE WOODS TO LIFT THE SPELL,
INTO THE WOODS TO LOSE THE LONGING.
INTO THE WOODS TO HAVE THE CHILD,
TO WED THE PRINCE,
TO GET THE MONEY,
TO KILL THE WOLF,
TO FIND THE FATHER,
TO CONQUER THE KINGDOM,
TO HAVE, TO WED,
TO GET, TO SAVE,
TO KILL, TO KEEP,
TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL!
INTO THE WOODS,
INTO THE WOODS,
INTO THE WOODS,
THEN OUT OF THE WOODS--
Narrator: To be continued...
(a giant beanstalk emerges from the ground and stretches to the heavens; the characters are oblivious to its presence)
Company: --AND HAPPY EVER AFTER!
(the parties head off to their respective homes as the lights dim to black)
END OF SCENE FIVE
End of Act 1
Act Two
Scene 1
(Downstage, three structures:
Far left, the castle where CINDERELLA now lives. she sits on her throne.
Center, the cottage--now dramatically improved--where JACK lives. JACK and JACK'S MOTHER are inside, along with MILKY-WHITE
and the golden harp.
Far right, the home/workplace of the BAKER and the BAKER'S WIFE. it is very cluttered with both baking supplies and nursery
items. BAKER'S WIFE holds their BABY, who does not stop crying.
NARRATOR steps forward)
Narrator: Once upon a time--
(music)
--later--
(light on CINDERELLA)
Cinderella: I WISH...
Narrator: --in the same far-off kingdom--
Cinderella: MORE THAN ANYTHING...
Narrator: --lived a young Princess--
Cinderella: MORE THAN LIFE...
Narrator: --the lad Jack--
(light on JACK)
Cinderella: MORE THAN FOOTMEN...
Jack: I WISH...
Narrator: --and the Baker and his family--
(light on BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE with their BABY)
Baby: WAAH!
Jack: NO, I MISS...
Cinderella, Baker: I WISH...
Baby: WAAH!
Jack: MORE THAN ANYTHING...
Cinderella, Baker, Jack: MORE THAN THE MOON...
Baker's Wife: (to the BABY) There, there...
Cinderella: I WISH TO SPONSOR A FESTIVAL.
Baby: WAAH!
Baker: MORE THAN LIFE...
Jack: I MISS...
Cinderella: THE TIME HAS COME FOR A FESTIVAL...
Baby: WAAH!
Baker's Wife: Shh...
Baker: (overlapping) MORE THAN RICHES...
Cinderella: AND A BALL...
Jack: I MISS MY KINGDOM UP IN THE SKY.
Cinderella, Baker: MORE THAN ANYTHING...
Baker's Wife: I WISH WE HAD MORE ROOM...
Jack: (to harp) PLAY, HARP...
Baker: ANOTHER ROOM...
(JACK strums the harp and it sings
STEPMOTHER, attended by the blinded FLORINDA and LUCINDA, enters the castle)
Narrator: But despite some minor inconveniences, they were all quite content...
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE enters the castle)
Cinderella: I NEVER THOUGHT I'D WED A PRINCE...
Cinderella's Prince: I NEVER THOUGHT I'D FIND PERFECTION...
Cinderella, Cinderella's Prince: I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD BE SO HAPPY!
Cinderella: NOT AN UNHAPPY MOMENT SINCE...
Jack, Jack's Mother: I DIDN'T THINK WE'D BE THIS RICH...
Cinderella's Prince: NOT A CONCEIVABLE OBJECTION...
Baker, Baker's Wife: I NEVER THOUGHT WE'D HAVE A BABY...
Cinderella, Cinderella's Prince, Jack, Jack's Mother: I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD BE SO HAPPY!
Baker, Baker's Wife: (overlapping) I'M SO HAPPY!
Stepmother: HAPPY NOW,
HAPPY HENCE,
HAPPY EVER AFTER--
Stepmother, Stepsisters: (to CINDERELLA) WE'RE SO HAPPY YOU'RE SO HAPPY,
JUST AS LONG AS YOU STAY HAPPY,
WE'LL STAY HAPPY...
Cinderella, Cinderella's Prince: NOT ONE ROW...
Jack's Mother: POTS OF PENCE...
Jack: WITH MY COW...
Baker, Baker's Wife: LITTLE GURGLES...
Cinderella's Prince: (to CINDERELLA) DARLING, I MUST GO NOW...
(exits)
Jack's Mother: (to JACK) WE SHOULD REALLY SELL IT.
Baker: (to Baker's Wife) WHERE'S THE CHEESECLOTH?
All others: WISHES MAY BRING PROBLEMS,
SUCH THAT YOU REGRET THEM.
All: BETTER THAT, THOUGH,
THAN TO NEVER GET THEM...
Cinderella: I'M GOING TO BE A PERFECT WIFE!
Jack: (overlapping) I'M GOING TO BE A PERFECT SON!
Baker's Wife, Jack's Mother: I'M GOING TO BE A PERFECT MOTHER!
Baker: I'M GOING TO BE A PERFECT FATHER!
I'M SO HAPPY!
Cinderella, Jack, Jack's Mother, Baker's Wife: (overlapping) I'M GOING TO SEE THAT HE (SHE)
IS SO HAPPY!
All: I NEVER THOUGHT I'D LOVE MY LIFE!
I WOULD HAVE SETTLED FOR ANOTHER!
Cinderella: THEN TO BECOME A WIFE...
Jack, Jack's Mother: THEN TO BE SET FOR LIFE...
Baker, Baker's Wife: THEN TO BEGET A CHILD...
All: THAT FORTUNE SMILED...
I'M SO HAPPY!
Baker's Wife: (hands the baby to BAKER, who is very awkward in holding the child)
If only this cottage were a little larger.
Baker: I will expand our quarters in due time.
Baker's Wife: Why expand when we can simply move to another cottage?
(BABY cries)
Baker: We will not move. This was my father's house, and now it will be my son's.
Baker's Wife: You would raise your child alongside a Witch?
Baker: (edgy) Why does he always cry when I hold him?
Baker's Wife: Babies cry. He's fine. You needn't hold him as if he were so fragile.
Baker: He wants his mother. Here.
(Baker carefully passes BABY back to BAKER'S WIFE. BABY stops crying)
Baker's Wife: I can't take care of him all the time!
Baker: I'll take care of him when he's older.
Baker, Baker's Wife, Jack, Jack's Mother: WE HAD TO GO THROUGH THICK AND THIN.
Stepmother, Florinda, Lucinda: WE HAD TO LOSE A LOT TO WIN.
Cinderella: I VENTURED OUT AND SAW WITHIN.
All: I NEVER THOUGHT
I'D BE SO MUCH I HADN'T BEEN!
I'M SO HAPPY...
(The song is suddenly interrupted by a loud rumbling noise followed by an enormous crash. the BAKER's house caves in. HE is
caught underneath the rubble as the BAKER'S WIFE runs forward with their BABY
(Action stops. JACK and JACK'S MOTHER look concerned. CINDERELLA sends her STEPMOTHER out to investigate. we should be momentarily
uncertain as to whether there has truly been an accident onstage)
Baker's Wife: Oh, my goodness.
Baker: (stunned) Are you all right?
Baker's Wife: I think so.
Baker: And the baby?
Baker's Wife: Yes, he's fine. Are you all right?
(BAKER nods; WITCH enters)
Baker: (to WITCH) You! Have you done this to our house?
Witch: Always thinking of yourself? Look at my garden.
Baker's Wife: What of your garden? Witch: Look!
(BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE move to window)
Baker: Destroyed.
Baker's Wife: What has happened?
Witch: I was thrown to the ground. I saw nothing.
Baker's Wife: What could do such a thing?
Baker: An earthquake.
Witch: No earthquake! My garden has been trampled. Those are footprints!
Baker's Wife: Who could do such a thing.
Witch: Anything that leaves a footprint that big is no "who."
(the following spoken in rhythm)
BAKER: Do you think it was a bear?
Witch: A bear? Bears are sweet.
Besides, you ever see a bear with forty-foot feet?
Baker's Wife: A dragon?
Witch: (shaking her head) No scorch marks--
Usually they're linked.
Baker: Manticore?
Witch: Imaginary.
Baker, Baker's Wife: Griffin?
Witch: Extinct.
Baker: Giant?
Witch: Possible.
Very, very possible...
(music fades under)
Baker: A Giant...
Baker's Wife: Maybe we should tell someone.
Witch: Who are you going to tell?
Baker: The royal family, of course.
Witch: (lets out a loud cackle)
The royal family? I wouldn't count on that family to snuff out a rat! With a Giant, we'll all have to go to battle! (change
of tone) A Giant's the worst! A Giant has a brain. Hard to outwit a Giant. A Giant's just like us--only bigger! Much, much
bigger! So big that we are just an expendable bug beneath its foot.
(suddenly steps on a bug)
BOOM...CRUNCH!
(we hear it crunch as she grinds it into the floor and then eats it. WITCH exits)
Baker's Wife: We are moving!
Narrator: And so, the Baker proceeded to the castle, but not before visiting Jack and his mother.
(knock on JACK's door; BAKER enters)
Jack: Look, Milky-White. It's the butcher.
Baker: The baker.
Jack: The baker...
Jack's Mother: What can we do for you, sir?
Baker: I'm here to investigate the destruction that was wrought upon our house today.
Jack's Mother: (defensive) Jack has been home with me all day.
Narrator: The Baker told Jack and his mother that he feared there was a Giant in the land.
Jack: I can recognize a Giant's footstep! I could go to your house--
Jack's Mother: You'll do no such thing!
Baker: Any help at all--
Jack's Mother: I am sorry, but you'll get none from us.
(opens the door for the BAKER)
No one cared when there was a Giant in my backyard! I don't remember you volunteering to come to my aid.
Baker: A Giant in your backyard is one thing. A crushed home is quite another.
Jack's Mother: (change of tone) Look, young man. Giants never strike the same house twice. I wouldn't worry.
Baker: I am taking this news to the castle, nonetheless.
(exits)
Narrator: When the Baker reached the castle, it was the Princess who greeted his news. The story unfolds.
(fanfare; STEWARD enters)
Steward: Excuse me, Madame. This small man insists on seeing you.
(BAKER enters. NARRATOR exits)
Baker: (kneels, kisses CINDERELLA's hem)
Princess, I've come to report the appearance of a Giant in the land.
Cinderella: Where did you see a Giant?
Baker: Well, I didn't exactly see it.
Steward: Then how do you know there is a Giant in the land?
Baker: Our house was destroyed and there are footprints--
Steward: That could have been caused by any number of things. I will show you to the door.
Cinderella: Wait.
Baker: A nearby household was visited by a Giant not long ago...descending from a beanstalk--
Cinderella: Yes, I remember.
Steward: That Giant was slain. Now come along--
Baker: (apologetic) Wait, please. We have a young child. Princess, our child was very difficult to come by. His safety is
of great importance to me.
Steward: Are we entirely through now?
Baker: Yes.
Cinderella: I will take this news up with the Prince when he returns. Thank you.
(BAKER and STEWARD exit. CINDERELLA, BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE freeze)
Jack's Mother: (with her coat on) I'm going off to market, Jack.
Jack: Goodbye, Mother.
Jack's Mother: Now, I want you stay inside.
Jack: But I haven't been outside all day!
Jack's Mother: Jack. Listen to me! I don't want you out when there might be a Giant on the loose.
Jack: But I know how to kill a Giant!
Jack's Mother: Please! We've had our fill of Giants!
Jack: But Mother, if I could help--
Jack's Mother: Enough! Promise me, son, you won't leave your surroundings!
Jack: But Mother, I'm a man now.
Jack's Mother: You're still a little boy in your mother's eyes. I want you to promise. (pause) Promise!
Jack: (reluctantly) I promise.
(JACK'S MOTHER gives JACK a peck on the cheek and exits. LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD knocks on the BAKER's door and enters, suitcase
in hand; BAKER and BAKER'S WIFE are sitting)
Little Red Ridinghood: What happened to your house?
Baker's Wife: We've had a baking accident.
Baker: Baking accident?
Baker's Wife: (whispers to him) No use frightening the young thing.
Baker: (whispers back) You can't frighten her.
Little Red Ridinghood: Well, I guess Granny will have to do without the bread and sweets. Besides, I have all I can carry.
(drops suitcase)
Baker's Wife: (trying to lift suitcase) Why such a load?
Little Red Ridinghood: Oh. I'm moving in with Granny. We had an accident, too. I came home to find our house collapsed. As
if a big wind blew it in. I couldn't find my mother anywhere.
Baker's Wife: Oh, no.
Little Red Ridinghood: So I salvaged what I could, and now I'm off.
(music continues under.
birds descend, chirp to CINDERELLA)
Cinderella: Oh, good friends. What news have you?
(listens)
What of Mother's grave?
(listens)
What kind of trouble?
(listens)
Oh, no. I can't investigate. A Princess is not supposed to go into the woods unescorted.
(CINDERELLA begins to cry<
birds chirp)
Good idea! I will disguise myself and go to see what's wrong. Thank you, birds.
(birds ascend. CINDERELLA exits)
Baker's Wife: We'll take you to Granny's.
Baker: What?!
Baker's Wife: (whispers) We're not going to let her go alone!
Baker: All right. I will take you.
Little Red Ridinghood: I don't need anyone to take me. I've gone many times before.
Baker: But not when there have been such winds blowing.
Baker's Wife: That's right. We'll all take you.
Baker: No!
Baker's Wife: I'm not about to stay here with the baby when a "wind" might return to this house, too.
Jack: I know Mother made me promise, but I'm going to find that Giant anyway!
(CINDERELLA, JACK, BAKER, BAKER'S WIFE, LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD all make their way into the woods)
Baker: INTO THE WOODS,
IT'S ALWAYS WHEN
YOU THINK AT LAST
YOU'RE THROUGH, AND THEN
INTO THE WOODS YOU GO AGAIN
TO TAKE ANOTHER JOURNEY.
Baker's Wife: INTO THE WOODS,
THE WEATHER'S CLEAR,
WE'VE BEEN BEFORE,
WE'VE NAUGHT TO FEAR...
INTO THE WOODS, AWAY FROM HERE--
Jack: INTO THE WOODS, TO FIND A GIANT--!
Little Red Riding Hood: INTO THE WOODS TO GRANDMOTHER'S HOUSE...
Baker: INTO THE WOODS,
THE PATH IS STRAIGHT,
NO REASON THEN
TO HESITATE--
Baker's Wife: INTO THE WOODS,
IT'S NOT SO LATE,
IT'S JUST ANOTHER JOURNEY...
Cinderella: INTO THE WOODS,
BUT NOT TOO LONG:
THE SKIES ARE STRANGE,
THE WINDS ARE STRONG.
INTO THE WOODS TO SEE WHAT'S WRONG...
Jack: (picking up a huge pair of broken eyeglasses) INTO THE WOODS TO SLAY THE GIANT!
Baker's Wife: INTO THE WOODS TO SHIELD THE CHILD...
Little Red Riding Hood: TO FLEE THE WINDS...
Baker: TO FIND A FUTURE...
Baker's Wife: TO SHIELD...
Jack: TO SLAY...
Little Red Riding Hood: TO FLEE...
Baker: TO FIND...
Cinderella: TO FIX...
Baker's Wife: TO HIDE...
Little Red Riding Hood: TO MOVE...
Jack: TO BATTLE...
Cinderella: TO SEE WHAT THE TROUBLE IS...
(music fades)
END OF SCENE ONE
Act Two
Scene 2
(RAPUNZEL enters, sees BAKER, BAKER'S WIFE, BABY, LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD and CINDERELLA; she screams. they scream and exit.
RAPUNZEL sees JACK; she screams. he screams and exits. RAPUNZEL sits, weeping. WITCH enters)
Witch: (urgent) Rapunzel! What are you doing here?
(RAPUNZEL whimpers)
What's the matter?
Rapunzel: Oh, nothing! You just locked me in a tower without company for fourteen years, then you blinded my Prince and banished
me to a desert where I had little to eat, and again no company, and then bore twins! Because of the way you treated me, I'll
never, never be happy! (she cries)
Witch: (defensive, yet sincere) I was just trying to be a good mother. Stay with me. There's a giant running about.
(RAPUNZEL runs off; WITCH follows her; PRINCES enter)
Rapunzel's Prince: Good brother! What a surprise!
Cinderella's Prince: Brother. How good to see you.
Rapunzel's Prince: What brings you into the wood today?
Cinderella's Prince: I am investigating news of a giant.
Rapunzel's Prince: You? Investigating news of a giant? Father would not even do that! That is the business of your Steward...or
less.
Cinderella's Prince: (defensive) Well what brings you into the wood?
Rapunzel's Prince: My Rapunzel has run off.
Cinderella's Prince: Run off?
Rapunzel's Prince: She's a changed woman. She has been subject to hysterical fits of crying. Moods that no soul can predict.
I know not what to do.
Cinderella's Prince: What a pity.
Rapunzel's Prince: And Cinderella?
Cinderella's Prince: She remains well.
Rapunzel's Prince: (conspiratorial) Does she? Now, brother, do tell what you're really doing here.
Cinderella's Prince: HIGH IN A TOWER
LIKE YOURS WAS, BUT HIGHER...
A BEAUTY ASLEEP.
ALL ROUND THE TOWER
A THICKET OF BRIAR
A HUNDRED FEET DEEP
AGONY!
NO FRUSTRATION MORE KEEN.
WHEN THE ONE THING YOU WANT
IS A THING THAT YOU'VE NOT EVEN SEEN.
Rapunzel's Prince: I FOUND A CASKET
ENTIRELY OF GLASS...
(as CINDERELLA'S PRINCE starts to shrug)
NO, IT'S UNBREAKABLE
INSIDE...DON'T ASK IT...
A MAIDEN. ALAS.
JUST AS UNWAKEABLE...
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: WHAT UNMISTAKABLE AGONY!
IS THE WAY ALWAYS BARRED?
Rapunzel's Prince: SHE HAS SKIN WHITE AS SNOW...
Cinderella's Prince: DID YOU LEARN HER NAME?
Rapunzel's Prince: NO.
THERE'S A DWARF STANDING GUARD.
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: AGONY
SUCH THAT PRINCES MUST WEEP!
ALWAYS IN THRALL MOST
TO ANYTHING ALMOST,
OR SOMETHING ASLEEP.
Cinderella's Prince: IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE THICKET...
Rapunzel's Prince: A THICKET'S NO TRICK
IS IT THICK?
Cinderella's Prince: IT'S THE THICKEST.
Rapunzel's Prince: THE QUICKEST IS
PICK IT
APART WITH A STICK...
Cinderella's Prince: YES, BUT EVEN ONE PRICK
IT'S MY THING ABOUT BLOOD.
Rapunzel's Prince: WELL IT'S SICK!
Cinderella's Prince: IT'S NO SICKER
THAN YOUR THING WITH DWARVES.
Rapunzel's Prince: DWARFS.
Cinderella's Prince: DWARFS...
Rapunzel's Prince: DWARFS ARE VERY UPSETTING.
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: NOT FORGETTING
THE TASKS UNACHIEVABLE,
MOUNTAINS UNSCALEABLE...
IF IT'S CONCEIVABLE
BUT UNAVAILABLE,
AHHHHHHHHHHHHH...
AGONY!
Cinderella's Prince: MISERY!
Rapunzel's Prince: WOE!
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: NOT TO KNOW WHAT YOU MISS
Cinderella's Prince: WHILE THEY LIE THERE FOR YEARS...
Rapunzel's Prince: AND YOU CRY ON THEIR BIERS...
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: WHAT UNBEARABLE BLISS!
AGONY
THAT CAN CUT LIKE A KNIFE!
AH WELL, BACK TO MY WIFE...
(we hear a wail in the distance)
Rapunzel's Prince: (disappointed) Rapunzel. I must be off. God speed to you, brother.
Cinderella's Prince: Godspeed!
(they exit in different directions; BAKER with a suitcase, BAKER'S WIFE with BABY and LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD enter)
Baker: Are you certain this is the right direction?
Little Red Ridinghood: We went down the dell.
Baker's Wife: Perhaps you forgot the way.
Little Red Ridinghood: The path is straight.
Baker: Was straight. Now there is no path.
Little Red Ridinghood: (increasingly upset) Where's the stream? Where's the lily pond? Where's Granny?
Baker's Wife: Calm down. (the BABY starts to cry; to BAKER) Maybe we should turn back.
Little Red Ridinghood: No!
Baker: We will just have to find Granny's house without the path.
Little Red Ridinghood: (crying) But Mother warned me never to stray from the path!
Baker: The path has strayed from you.
Little Red Ridinghood: Wait. That looks familiar. See, in the distance, three oak trees.
(we hear voices approaching)
Baker: Yes. I recognize...
Baker's Wife: Who might that be?
(STEWARD with wicker satchel and staff, STEPMOTHER with umbrella, CINDERELLA'S FATHER with carpet bag, LUCINDA and FLORINDA
with blind canes and dark glasses. bedraggled, they make their way downstage)
Baker: The Steward and the Royal Family.
(they bow)
What brings you into the Woods?
Cinderella's Father: The castle has been set upon by a Giant.
Baker's Wife: Oh, no...
Baker: (to STEWARD) I warned you! Why didn't you do something?
Steward: I do not make policy, I just carry it out!
(WITCH appears)
Witch: (to BAKER) And I warned you that you can't rely on the Royal Family to solve your problems.
Baker's Wife: I think it best we go back to the village.
Witch: (bitter) I wouldn't be in such a rush if I were you. Guess which path the giant took to the castle?
Baker's Wife: Oh no...
Baker: What?
Witch: All that was left of my garden was a sack of beans...and there's not much left of your house either.
Baker: But I heard giants never strike the same house twice.
Baker's Wife: Shhh.
(suddenly the ground begins to shake. frightening and loud crunching noises approach. the huge shadow of the GIANT envelopes
the stage. the earth stops shaking and they look up in amazement
2nd step: ALL make a sudden head move
3rd step: ALL look up
4th step: ALL start to chatter and feel movement in knees
5th step: ALL bounce, see first tree fall. STEWARD yells "There" and points up in the air.
6th step: ALL bounce bigger, start to lose balance. ALL see something in the trees
7th step: ALL, except WITCH, bounce into a clump, losing balance. STEPMOTHER points and yells as she sees the full height
of the GIANT. LUCINDA and FLORINDA scream with STEPMOTHER)
Witch: (total amazement) The giant's a woman!
Baker: That size!
Giant: (amplified from a specific spot) Where is the lad who killed my husband?
(ALL lean back as GIANT speaks)
Steward: There is no lad here.
Baker: We haven't seen him.
Giant: I want the lad who climbed the beanstalk.
Witch: We'll get him for you right away. Don't move!
(LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD pulls a knife from beneath her cape and runs towards the GIANT; BAKER restrains her, but she threatens
the GIANT anyway)
Little Red Ridinghood: It was you who destroyed our house...not a great wind! It's because of you I've no mother!
Giant: And who destroyed my house? That boy asked for shelter, and then he stole our gold, our hen, and our harp. Then he
killed my husband. I must avenge the wrongdoings.
Baker's Wife: We are not responsible for him.
Witch: You are wasting your breath.
Steward: She's right. You can't reason with a dumb giant.
(the ground gives a mighty shake; leaves and twigs fall down)
Giant: Not all giants are dumb. Give me the boy!
Little Red Ridinghood: We told you, he's not here.
Cinderella's Father: The girl is telling the truth!
(NARRATOR enters)
Giant: I know he's there. And I'm going to wait right here until he's delivered to me.
Narrator: The giant, who was nearsighted, remained convinced that she had found the lad. There was no consensus among them
as to which course of action to take.
Baker's Wife: (to WITCH) Put a spell on her.
Witch: I no longer have my powers. If I did, you think I'd be standing here with all of you?
(indicates group; getting down to business)
Now, we'll have to give her someone.
All Except Witch: Who?
Witch: The Steward. It's in his line of duty to sacrifice his life...
Steward: Don't be ridiculous! I'm not giving up my life for anyone!
Giant: I'm waiting!
Narrator: You must understand, these were not people familiar with making choices...their past experiences in the woods had
in no way prepared them to deal with a force this great.
Witch: Excuse me, but would you like a blind girl instead?
(FLORINDA and LUCINDA scream)
Stepmother: How dare you!
Witch: Put them out of their misery.
Florinda, Lucinda: We're not that miserable!
Baker: What are you talking about?
Baker's Wife: She doesn't want a woman.
Witch: Fine. Then what do you suggest we do?
Giant: I'm still waiting!
Narrator: It is interesting to examine the moral issues at question here. The finality of stories such as these dictates...
(NARRATOR turns upstage and notices EVERYONE looking at him. THEY move towards him, as a group)
Sorry, I tell the story, I'm not part of it.
Little Red Ridinghood: That's right. (pulls out knife)
Witch: Not one of us!
Baker: You're always on the outside.
Narrator: (nervous) That's my role. You must understand, there must always be someone on the outside.
Steward: You are going to be on the inside now.
Narrator: You are making a big mistake.
Stepmother: Nonsense.
Narrator: You need an objective observer to pass the story along.
Witch: Some of us don't like the way you've been telling it.
(THEY grab him and begin to pull him upstage)
Narrator: If you drag me into this mess, you'll never know how your story ends. You'll be lost.
Baker: (to GROUP) Wait. He's the only one who knows the story.
Narrator: Do you think it will be fun when you have to tell it yourselves? Think of your baby.
Baker's Wife: Stop! He's right! Let him go!
(THEY let go of him;
to LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD) Put that away!
(LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD does)
Narrator: Now that's better. You don't want to live in a world of chaos.
(calms down; begins to inch away from them)
There must always be an outside observ--
Witch: (screaming; racing towards the NARRATOR) Here's the lad!
(she suddenly pushes the NARRATOR across the stage in the direction of the GIANT; there is a sudden earth tremor; all eyes
swoop upwards as if to suggest the NARRATOR has been picked up by the GIANT. we hear the NARRATOR yell from the distance)
Narrator: I'm not the lad!
Giant: This is not the lad.
Baker: Don't drop...
(their eyes swing from the GIANT to the ground, and we hear a thud. they recoil in horror as we hear the NARRATOR splat)
Baker: (to WITCH) Why did you push him into her arms?
Witch: You wanted to get rid of him, too.
Baker's Wife: We might have thought of something else.
Witch: If it was up to you, a decision would never be made.
Little Red Ridinghood: (looking towards NARRATOR'S spot; panic) Now that he's gone we'll never know what will happen next.
Baker's Wife: We'll manage.
Giant: Must I search among you for the lad?
(JACK'S MOTHER enters)
All: No!
Jack's Mother: (tough) Jack is just a boy! We had no food to eat and he sold his beloved cow in exchange for magic beans.
If anyone is to be punished, it's the man that made that exchange.
Little Red Ridinghood: That's right!
(BAKER and WIFE simultaneously)
Baker: Shhh.
Baker's Wife: Nonsense.
Giant: He was you responsibility. Now I must punish him for his wrongs!
Jack's Mother: We've suffered too. Do you think it was a picnic disposing of your husband's remains?
Giant: You are getting me angry!
Jack's Mother: (more worked up) What about our anger? What about our loss? Who has been flouncing through our kingdom?
Steward: Shhh. Be quiet.
Jack's Mother: I'll hide my son and you'll never find him!
Baker: (through clenched teeth) Don't upset the giant.
Jack's Mother: You'll never, never find him!
Giant: I'm warning you!
Jack's Mother: (out of control) And if you don't go back this instant, we'll get you for all you've done! We'll--
(STEWARD comes from behind her and slams her over the head with his staff. She staggers a moment, then stands motionless)
Giant: Where is your son?
(RAPUNZEL runs onstage weeping; she sees the GIANT and screams; WITCH restrains her)
Is that him?
Witch: No. No. This is not the boy. (to RAPUNZEL) Stay here!
Steward: The boy is hiding in the Steeple tower.
(RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE enters)
Rapunzel's Prince: Rapunzel!
Stepmother: That's true.
Florinda, Lucinda: Yes...
Giant: If he is not, I will return and find you!
Rapunzel's Prince: Rapunzel!
(GIANT begins to exit. On the second footstep, RAPUNZEL runs towards the GIANT)
Rapunzel, my love, wait...
(RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE follows her off stage)
Steward: No, don't step on...
(we hear a loud squish noise; the group recoils; RAPUNZEL'S PRINCE returns, shaking his head and exits upstage. Jack's Mother
moans)
Baker: She's in poor condition.
Baker's Wife: Wake up.
Jack's Mother: (fighting for breath) Don't let them get Jack.
Baker's Wife: We won't.
Jack's Mother: Promise me you let him be hurt. As I stand here at death's door.
Baker: I'll do all I can.
Jack's Mother: Promise! Promise!
Baker: Alright! I promise.
(JACK'S MOTHER expires; LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD sidles beside her and stares)
Baker's Wife: No, no. Come away from there.
(pulls her away; to STEWARD)
You killed her!
Steward: I was thinking of the greater good. That's my job.
(BAKER, CINDERELLA'S FATHER and STEWARD drag JACK'S MOTHER offstage. The GROUP, hushed, watches; the WITCH stands alone)
Witch: (looking offstage to where RAPUNZEL was killed)
THIS WAS THE WORLD I MEANT,
COULDN'T YOU LISTEN?
COULDN'T YOU STAY CONTENT
SAFE BEHIND WALLS?
AS I COULD NOT?
NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY,
CHILDREN WON'T LISTEN.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU KNOW
CHILDREN REFUSE TO LEARN.
GUIDE THEM ALONG THE WAY,
STILL THEY WON'T LISTEN.
CHILDREN CAN ONLY GROW
FROM SOMETHING YOU LOVE
TO SOMETHING YOU LOSE.
(STEWARD and CINDERELLA'S FATHER return; followed by the BAKER)
Stepmother: Life was so steady, and now this! When are things going to return to normal?
Steward: We must be gone if we're to arrive before nightfall.
Baker: Where are you going?
Lucinda: We're off to a hidden kingdom.
Stepmother: Shhh. We can't take everyone.
Witch: Fools! There is nowhere to hide!
Baker: You'll never get there. We have to stay and find our way out of this together.
Stepmother: (sincere) Some people are cut out to battle giants, and others are not. I don't have the constitution. And as
long as I can be of no help, I'm going to hide. Everything will work out fine in the end.
Baker: Not always.
(STEPMOTHER, CINDERELLA'S FATHER, FLORINDA, LUCINDA, and STEWARD exit)
Little Red Ridinghood: I hope the giant steps on them all.
Baker's Wife: You shouldn't say that!
(WITCH, who has been quietly standing off to the side, turns around)
Witch: You were thinking the same thing.
Little Red Ridinghood: This is terrible. We just saw three people die!
Witch: (bitter) Since when are you so squeamish? How many wolves have you carved up?
Little Red Ridinghood: A wolf's not the same.
Witch: Ask a wolf's mother!
Baker: Stop it!
Witch: I suggest that we find that boy now and give her what she wants.
Little Red Ridinghood: If we give her the boy, she will kill him too.
Witch: And if we don't, she'll kill half the kingdom!
Baker's Wife: One step at a time. Maybe if he apologizes. Makes amends.
Baker: Yes! He'll return the stolen goods.
Little Red Ridinghood: Yes!
Baker's Wife: He's really a sweet boy at heart. She'll see that.
Witch: You people are so blind! It's because of that boy that there's a giant in our land. While you continue talking about
this problem, I'll find the lad and I'll serve him to the giant for lunch.
(WITCH exits)
Little Red Ridinghood: Are we going to let her feed the boy to the giant?
Baker's Wife: No!
Baker: I'll have to find him first.
Baker's Wife: I'll go too.
Baker: No! Stay here with the baby.
Baker's Wife: We'll fan out. It will increase our chances of finding him.
Baker: What if one of us gets lost?
Baker's Wife: We'll count our steps from right here.
(LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD comes over)
No. You stay here with the baby. I do not want you roaming about the Woods.
Baker: You would leave our child with her?
Baker's Wife: Yes. The baby is asleep. He will be safe with the girl.
Baker: But what if the giant were to return here...!
Baker's Wife: The giant will not harm them. I know.
Baker: How do you know?
Baker's Wife: I know!
Baker: But what if...
Baker's Wife: But what if! BUT WHAT IF! Will only a giant's foot stop your arguing. One hundred paces...GO!
(pause)
(The BAKER and the BAKER'S WIFE march off in opposite directions, counting to themselves, leaving LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD and
the BABY; we follow the BAKER'S WIFE as she crosses paths with CINDERELLA'S PRINCE; SHE is nervous and excited in his presence)
Baker's Wife: 81...82...83...84
(she see CINDERELLA'S PRINCE and bows)
Hello, Sir.
Cinderella's Prince: (continuing to walk) Hello.
Baker's Wife: You must be here to slay the giant.
Cinderella's Prince: Yes.
Baker's Wife: Have you come upon the giant yet?
Cinderella's Prince: No.
Baker's Wife: I have.
Cinderella's Prince: (stops walking) You have?
Baker's Wife: Yes.
Cinderella's Prince: And why are you alone in the woods?
Baker's Wife: I came with my husband. We were...well, it's a long story.
Cinderella's Prince: He would let you roam alone in the woods?
Baker's Wife: No, actually, it was my choice. I'm looking for the lad.
Cinderella's Prince: (moves closer) Your choice? How brave.
Baker's Wife: Brave?
Cinderella's Prince: (next to her) Yes.
ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN IN THE WOODS
MAY I KISS YOU?
(BAKER'S WIFE blinks)
ANY MOMENT WE COULD BE CRUSHED
Baker's Wife: Uh...
Cinderella's Prince: DON'T FEEL RUSHED
(he kisses her. she is stunned, turns to audience)
Baker's Wife: THIS IS RIDICULOUS,
WHAT AM I DOING HERE?
I'M IN THE WRONG STORY.
(resumes the kiss, then pulls away; music stops)
Wait one moment! We can't do this. You have a princess.
Cinderella's Prince: Well, yes, I do.
Baker's Wife: And I have a Baker...
Cinderella's Prince: Of course, you're right. How foolish.
(Music resumes)
FOOLISHNESS CAN HAPPEN IN THE WOODS.
ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE...
LET YOUR HESITATIONS BE HUSHED.
ANY MOMENT, BIG OR SMALL,
IS A MOMENT AFTER ALL.
SEIZE THE MOMENT, SKIES MAY FALL
ANY MOMENT.
(kisses her again)
Baker's Wife: But this is not right!
Cinderella's Prince: RIGHT AND WRONG DON'T MATTER IN THE WOODS.
ONLY FEELINGS.
LET US MEET THE MOMENT UNBLUSHED.
LIFE IS OFTEN SO UNPLEASANT...
YOU MUST KNOW THAT AS A PEASANT...
BEST TO TAKE THE MOMENT PRESENT
AS A PRESENT FOR THE MOMENT.
(As CINDERELLA'S PRINCE takes the BAKER'S WIFE into the glade, the BAKER encounters CINDERELLA at her Mother's grave; the
tree is shattered. she is weeping)
Baker: (offstage, then entering) Jack! Jack! 81...82...83...
(he sees CINDERELLA) What's wrong Ma'am? May I be of some service?
Cinderella: The tree has fallen. Mother's grave, destroyed.
Baker: Oh, I'm sorry.
Cinderella: My wishes have just been crushed.
Baker: Don't say that.
Cinderella: It's true. You wouldn't understand.
Baker: Well you can't stay here. There's a giant on the loose.
Cinderella: I'm certain the Prince will see to it that the giant is rid from our land.
Baker: There's no sign of the Prince. No doubt he's off seducing some young maiden.
Cinderella: What?
Baker: I understand it's what princes do.
Cinderella: Not all princes.
Baker: You look just like the Princess...only dirty. You are the Princess.
(he drops)
Cinderella: Please. Get up. Get up!
(BAKER rises)
Baker: What are you to do?
Cinderella: I must be on my way back to the castle.
Baker: You haven't heard? We came upon the Royal Family. The castle has been set upon by the giant.
Cinderella: And the Prince?
Baker: He was not with them. (beat) You must come with me. You shall be safe in our company.
(they exit; return to BAKER'S WIFE and CINDERELLA'S PRINCE, who are on the ground kissing; he pulls away)
Cinderella's Prince: I must leave you.
Baker's Wife: Why?
Cinderella's Prince: The giant.
Baker's Wife: The giant. I had almost forgotten. Will we find each other in the woods again?
Cinderella's Prince: THIS WAS JUST A MOMENT IN THE WOODS.
OUR MOMENT,
SHIMMERING AND LOVELY AND SAD.
LEAVE THE MOMENT, JUST BE GLAD
FOR THE MOMENT THAT WE HAD.
EVERY MOMENT IS OF THE MOMENT
WHEN YOU'RE IN THE WOODS...
(Music continues under)
Now, I must go off to slay the giant. That is what the next moment holds for me.
(he gives her a quick kiss)
I shall not forget you. How brave you are to be alone in the Woods. And how alive you've made me feel.
(he exits)
Baker's Wife: (sits stunned; music briefly, stops) What was that?
(music resumes)
WAS THAT ME?
WAS THAT HIM?
DID A PRINCE REALLY KISS ME?
AND KISS ME?
AND KISS ME?
AND DID I KISS HIM BACK?
WAS IT WRONG?
AM I MAD?
IS THAT ALL?
DOES HE MISS ME?
WAS HE SUDDENLY
GETTING BORED WITH ME?
(she stands)
WAKE UP! STOP DREAMING.
STOP PRANCING ABOUT THE WOODS.
IT'S NOT BESEEMING.
WHAT IS IT ABUT THE WOODS?
(firm)
BACK TO LIFE, BACK TO SENSE,
BACK TO CHILD, BACK TO HUSBAND,
YOU CAN'T LIVE IN THE WOODS.
THERE ARE VOWS, THERE ARE TIES,
THERE ARE NEEDS, THERE ARE STANDARDS,
THERE ARE SHOULDN'TS AND SHOULDS.
WHY NOT BOTH INSTEAD?
THERE'S THE ANSWER, IF YOU'RE CLEVER;
HAVE A CHILD FOR WARMTH
AND A BAKER FOR BREAD
AND A PRINCE FOR WHATEVER...
NEVER!
IT'S THESE WOODS.
FACE THE FACTS, FIND THE BOY,
JOIN THE GROUP, STOP THE GIANT...
JUST GET OUT OF THESE WOODS.
WAS THAT HIM? YES IT WAS.
WAS THAT ME? NO, IT WASN'T,
JUST A TRICK OF THE WOODS.
JUST A MOMENT,
ONE PECULIAR PASSING MOMENT.
MUST IT BE EITHER LESS OR MORE
EITHER PLAIN OR GRAND?
IS IT ALWAYS "OR"?
IS IT NEVER "AND"?
THAT'S WHAT WOODS ARE FOR;
FOR THOSE MOMENTS IN THE WOODS...
OH, IF LIFE WERE MADE OF MOMENTS,
EVEN NOW AND THEN A BAD ONE...
BUT IF LIFE WERE ONLY MOMENTS,
THEN YOU'D NEVER KNOW YOU HAD ONE.
FIRST A WITCH, THEN A CHILD,
THEN A PRINCE, THEN A MOMENT...
WHO CAN LIVE IN THE WOODS?
AND TO GET WHAT YOU WISH,
ONLY JUST FOR A MOMENT...
THESE ARE DANGEROUS WOODS...
LET THE MOMENT GO...
DON'T FORGET IT FOR A MOMENT THOUGH.
JUST REMEMBERING YOU'VE AN "AND"
WHEN YOU'RE BACK TO "OR"
MAKES THE "OR" MEAN MORE
THAN IT DID BEFORE
NOW I UNDERSTAND...
(sighs, starts walking faster)
AND IT'S TIME TO LEAVE THE WOODS.
(BAKER'S WIFE finishes song and begins counting her steps offstage. she stops and retraces her steps, and begins exiting in
another direction. she realizes she is lost. she begins to go in yet another direction, when we hear the approach of the giant
in the distance. in panic, she backs up. loud noise and dramatic light change as BAKER'S WIFE falls backwards. blackout)
(set change. We see BAKER, CINDERELLA and LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD)
Baker: She should be back by now.
Little Red Ridinghood: She wouldn't get lost.
Cinderella: I'm sure she'll return.
Baker: No. I must go in search of her.
Little Red Ridinghood: We'll come too.
Baker: No. You stay here. I will count 100 paces. I shall return soon. 1...2...3...
(WITCH makes a noisy entrance with JACK in tow; SHE keeps a firm grip on him. JACK drops BAKER'S WIFE's scarf as he enters)
Witch: Look who I found!
Jack: Please don't let her give me to the giant!
Witch: It's not our fault the giant wants you!
(BAKER notices scarf and picks it up)
Cinderella: Let go of him!
Little Red Ridinghood: Leave him alone!
Baker: Where did you find this?
(WITCH lets go of JACK)
Where is my wife?
Witch: She's dead.
Baker: (he stops) What?
Jack: (he breaks loose from the WITCH; taking BAKER'S WIFE's scarf to BAKER)
I'm sorry sir. I came upon her. She was under a tree...
Witch: He was sobbing over her like she was his own mother!
Cinderella: How awful...
Baker: How could this happen? I should never have let her wander off alone.
Jack: I buried her in a footprint.
Baker: I should have insisted she stay at home.
Witch: Remorse will get you nowhere.
Baker: (angry) My wife is dead!
Witch: Wake up! People are dying all around you. You are not the only one to suffer a loss. When you're dead, you're dead.
Now it's time to get this boy to the giant before we're all so much dead meat.
(SHE grabs JACK; HE struggles)
Cinderella: (trying to free JACK) Keep away from him!
Little Red Ridinghood: (joining CINDERELLA) No!
Witch: This is no time to be soft-hearted! He's going to the giant and I'm taking him...
Baker: (advancing, distraught) Yes. He's the one to blame.
(to JACK) It's because of you there's a giant in our midst and my wife is dead.
Jack: BUT IT ISN'T MY FAULT,
I WAS GIVEN THOSE BEANS!
(referring to BAKER)
YOU PERSUADED ME TO TRADE AWAY MY COW FOR BEANS!
AND WITHOUT THOSE BEANS
THERE'D HAVE BEEN NO STALK
TO GET UP TO THE GIANT'S
IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Baker: WAIT A MINUTE, MAGIC BEANS
FOR A COW SO OLD
THAT YOU HAD TO TELL
A LIE TO SELL IT
WHICH YOU TOLD!
WERE THEY WORTHLESS BEANS?
WERE THEY OVER SOLD OH AND TELL US WHO
PERSUADED YOU
TO STEAL THAT GOLD?
Little Red Ridinghood: (to JACK) SEE, IT'S YOUR FAULT
Jack: NO!
Baker: SO IT'S YOUR FAULT
Jack: NO!
Little Red Ridinghood: YES, IT IS!
Jack: IT'S NOT!
Baker: IT'S TRUE
Jack: (to BAKER) WAIT A MINUTE...
THOUGH I ONLY STOLE THE GOLD
TO GET MY COW BACK
FROM YOU!
Little Red Ridinghood: (to BAKER) SO IT'S YOUR FAULT!
Jack: YES!
Baker: NO, IT ISN'T!
I'D HAVE KEPT THOSE BEANS,
BUT OUR HOUSE WAS CURSED
(referring to WITCH)
SHE MADE US GET A COW
TO GET THE CURSE REVERSED!
Witch: IT'S HIS FATHER'S FAULT
THAT THE CURSE GOT PLACED
AND THE PLACE GOT CURSED
IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Little Red Ridinghood: OH, THEN
IT'S HIS FAULT!
Witch: SO?
Cinderella: IT WAS HIS FAULT...
Jack: NO.
Baker: YES, IT IS.
IT'S HIS
Cinderella: I GUESS...
Jack: WAIT A MINUTE, THOUGH...
I CHOPPED DOWN THE BEANSTALK...
RIGHT, THAT'S CLEAR
BUT WITHOUT ANY BEANSTALK
THEN WHAT'S QUEER IS
HOW DID THE SECOND GIANT GET DOWN HERE
IN THE FIRST PLACE
(confused) SECOND PLACE...
Cinderella: YES!
Little Red Ridinghood: HOW?
Baker: HMM...
Jack: WELL,
WHO HAD THE OTHER BEAN?
Baker: THE OTHER BEAN?
Cinderella: THE OTHER BEAN?
Jack: (to BAKER) YOU POCKETED THE OTHER BEAN
Baker: I DIDN'T.
YES, I DID.
Little Red Ridinghood: SO, IT'S YOUR F...!
Baker: NO, IT ISN'T,
'CAUSE I GAVE IT TO MY WIFE!
Little Red Ridinghood: SO, IT'S HER F...!
Baker: NO, IT ISN'T!!
Cinderella: THEN WHOSE IS IT?
Baker: WAIT A MINUTE!
(to CINDERELLA) SHE EXCHANGED THAT BEAN
TO OBTAIN YOUR SHOE,
SO, THE ONE WHO KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED
TO THE BEAN IS YOU!
Cinderella: YOU MEAN THAT OLD BEAN...
THAT YOUR WIFE...? OH DEAR...
(as they all look at her)
BUT I NEVER KNEW,
AND SO I THREW...
WELL, DON'T LOOK HERE!
Little Red Ridinghood: SO, IT'S YOUR FAULT!
Cinderella: BUT...
Jack: SEE, IT'S HER FAULT...
Cinderella: BUT...
Jack: AND IT ISN'T MINE AT ALL!
Baker: (to CINDERELLA) BUT WHAT?
Cinderella: (to JACK) WELL, IF YOU HADN'T
GONE BACK UP AGAIN...
Jack: WE WERE NEEDY...
Cinderella: YOU WERE GREEDY!
DID YOU NEED THAT HEN?
Jack: BUT I GOT IT FOR MY MOTHER...!
Little Red Ridinghood: SO, IT'S HER FAULT THEN!
Cinderella: YES, AND WHAT ABOUT THE HARP
IN THE THIRD PLACE?
Baker: The Harp, yes!
Jack: (referring to LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD) SHE WENT AND DARED ME TO!
Little Red Ridinghood: I DARED YOU TO?
Jack: YOU DARED ME TO!
(to OTHERS) SHE SAID THAT I WAS SCARED TO.
SHE DARED ME!
Little Red Ridinghood: NO, I DIDN'T!
Jack: SO, IT'S YOUR FAULT!
Little Red Ridinghood: WAIT A MINUTE...!
Cinderella: IF YOU HADN'T DARED HIM TO...
Baker: (to JACK) ...AND IF YOU HAD LEFT THE HARP ALONE,
WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS TROUBLE
IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Little Red Ridinghood: (to CINDERELLA, overlapping)
WELL, IF YOU HADN'T THROWN AWAY THE BEAN
IN THE FIRST PLACE...!
IT WAS YOUR FAULT!
Cinderella: (looking at WITCH) WELL, IF SHE HADN'T
RAISED THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE...!
Jack: (overlapping, to WITCH) YES, IF YOU HADN'T RAISED THEM
IN THE FIRST PLACE...!
Little Red Ridinghood, Baker: (to WITCH) IT WAS YOU WHO RAISED THEM
IN THE FIRST PLACE...!
Cinderella: (simultaneous) YOU RAISED THE BEANS IN THE FIRST PLACE!
Jack: IT'S YOUR FAULT!
Little Red Ridinghood, Baker, Jack, Cinderella: YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE!
YOU'RE THE ONE TO BLAME!
IT'S YOUR FAULT!
(WITCH stops them in their tracks)
Witch: IT'S THE LAST MIDNIGHT.
IT'S THE LAST WISH
IT'S THE LAST MIDNIGHT.
SOON IT WILL BE BOOM...
(stamps her foot; drum)
SQUISH!
(squishes; squish sound. confronting each in turn)
TOLD A LITTLE LIE,
STOLE A LITTLE GOLD,
BROKE A LITTLE VOW
DID YOU?
HAD TO GET YOUR PRINCE,
HAD TO GET YOUR COW,
HAVE TO GET YOUR WISH,
DOESN'T MATTER HOW,
ANYWAY, IT DOESN'T MATTER NOW!
IT'S THE LAST MIDNIGHT.
IT'S THE BOOM...
(drum)
SPLAT!
(splat sound)
NOTHING BUT A VAST MIDNIGHT
EVERYBODY SMASHED FLAT!
NOTHING WE CAN DO.
NOT EXACTLY TRUE;
WE CAN ALWAYS GIVE HER THE BOY!
(they protect JACK as she reaches for him)
NO?
NO, OF COURSE WHAT REALLY MATTERS
IS THE BLAME,
SOMEBODY TO BLAME.
FINE IF THAT'S THE THING YOU ENJOY
PLACING THE BLAME
IF THAT'S THE AIM,
GIVE ME THE BLAME...
JUST GIVE ME THE BOY!
Little Red Ridinghood, Cinderella: No!
Witch: NO...
YOU'RE SO NICE
YOU'RE NOT GOOD,
YOU'RE NOT BAD,
YOU'RE JUST NICE.
I'M NOT GOOD
I'M NOT NICE
I'M JUST RIGHT!
I'M THE WITCH
YOU'RE THE WORLD.
I'M THE HITCH,
I'M WHAT NO ONE BELIEVES,
I'M A WITCH.
YOU'RE ALL LIARS AND THIEVES
LIKE HIS FATHER,
LIKE HIS SON WILL BE TOO...
OH, WHY BOTHER?
YOU'LL JUST DO WHAT YOU DO.
IT'S THE LAST MIDNIGHT.
SO, GOODBYE ALL.
COMING AT YOU FAST, MIDNIGHT...
SOON YOU'LL SEE THE SKY FALL.
(during the following verse the WITCH scatters beans as the others scramble to pick them up)
HERE, YOU WANT ANOTHER BEAN?
HAVE ANOTHER BEAN.
BEANS WERE MADE FOR MAKING YOU RICH!
PLANT THEM AND THEY SOAR...
HERE, YOU WANT SOME MORE?
LISTEN TO THE ROAR;
GIANTS BY THE SCORE...!
OH WELL, YOU CAN BLAME ANOTHER WITCH.
IT'S THE LAST MIDNIGHT,
IT'S THE LAST VERSE.
NOW, BEFORE IT'S PAST MIDNIGHT,
I'M LEAVING YOU MY LAST CURSE;
I'M LEAVING YOU ALONE.
YOU CAN TEND THE GARDEN, IT'S YOURS.
SEPARATE AND ALONE,
EVERYBODY DOWN ON ALL FOURS.
ALRIGHT MOTHER, WHEN?
LOST THE BEANS AGAIN!
PUNISH ME THE WAY YOU DID THEN!
GIVE ME CLAWS AND A HUNCH
JUST AWAY FROM THIS BUNCH
AND THE GLOOM
AND THE DOOM
AND THE BOOM
CRUNNNCH!
(she disappears)
Jack: Maybe I shouldn't have stolen from the Giant.
Little Red Ridinghood: Maybe I shouldn't have strayed from the path...
Cinderella: Maybe I shouldn't have attended the ball...
Baker: Yes, maybe you shouldn't have.
(BAKER begins to exit)
Jack: Where are you going?
Baker: Away from here.
Little Red Ridinghood: But you said we had to find our way out of this together.
Baker: It doesn't matter whether we're together or apart.
Jack: We need your help.
Baker: You don't understand. My wife was the only one who really helped. I depended on her for everything. (moves further)
Cinderella: You would leave your child?
Baker: (sad) My child will be happier in the arms of a princess.
(BAKER exits)
Cinderella: But wait...
(CINDERELLA, JACK, LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD exit)
(SET CHANGE; MYSTERIOUS MAN appears and startles the BAKER)
Baker: I thought you were dead.
Mysterious Man: Not completely. Are we ever?
Baker: As far as I'm concerned you are.
Mysterious Man: Is that true?
Baker: It's because of you all this has happened.
Mysterious Man: I strayed into the garden to give your mother a gift. And I thoughtlessly took some of those beans for myself.
How was I to know? How are we ever to know? And when she died, I ran away from my guilt. And now, aren't you making the same
mistake?
Baker: No.
Mysterious Man: Aren't you running away?
Baker: NO MORE QUESTIONS.
PLEASE.
NO MORE TESTS.
COMES THE DAY YOU SAY "WHAT FOR?"
PLEASE...NO MORE.
Mysterious Man: THEY DISAPPOINT,
THEY DISAPPEAR,
THEY DIE BUT THEY DON'T...
Baker: What?
Mysterious Man: THEY DISAPPOINT,
IN TURN, I FEAR.
FORGIVE, THOUGH, THEY WON'T...
Baker: NO MORE RIDDLES.
NO MORE JESTS.
NO MORE CURSES YOU CAN'T UNDO,
LEFT BY FATHERS YOU NEVER KNEW
NO MORE QUESTS.
NO MORE FEELINGS
TIME TO SHUT THE DOOR
JUST...NO MORE.
Mysterious Man: RUNNING AWAY...LET'S DO IT
FREE FROM THE TIES THAT BIND.
NO MORE DESPAIR,
OR BURDENS TO BEAR,
OUT THERE IN THE YONDER.
RUNNING AWAY...GO TO IT.
WHERE DID YOU HAVE IN MIND?
HAVE TO TAKE CARE;
UNLESS THERE'S A "WHERE",
YOU'LL ONLY BE WANDERING BLIND.
JUST MORE QUESTIONS.
DIFFERENT KIND.
WHERE ARE WE TO GO?
WHERE ARE WE EVER TO GO?
RUNNING AWAY...WE'LL DO IT.
WHY SIT AROUND, RESIGNED?
TROUBLE IS, SON
THE FARTHER YOU RUN
THE MORE YOU FEEL UNDEFINED
FOR WHAT YOU HAVE LEFT UNDONE
AND, MORE, WHAT YOU HAVE LEFT BEHIND.
WE DISAPPOINT,
WE LEAVE A MESS
WE DIE BUT WE DON'T...
Baker: WE DISAPPOINT
IN TURN, I GUESS.
FORGET, THOUGH, WE WON'T...
Baker, Mysterious Man: LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.
Baker: (as MYSTERIOUS MAN disappears)
NO MORE GIANTS,
WAGING WAR.
CAN'T WE JUST PURSUE OUR LIVES
WITH OUR CHILDREN AND OUR WIVES?
TILL THAT HAPPY DAY ARRIVES,
HOW DO YOU IGNORE
ALL THE WITCHES,
ALL THE CURSES
ALL THE WOLVES
ALL THE LIES
THE FALSE HOPES, THE GOODBYES, THE REVERSES,
ALL THE WONDERING WHAT EVEN WORSE
IS STILL IN STORE?
ALL THE CHILDREN...
ALL THE GIANTS...
(after a moment's thought)
NO MORE.
(BAKER exits; CINDERELLA, JACK, LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD with BABY enter. BAKER returns through woods to group)
Cinderella: I knew you wouldn't give up.
Jack: He wouldn't leave his baby.
Little Red Ridinghood: It looked like he was going to.
Baker: Give me my son.
(BAKER takes the BABY in his arms; BABY begins to cry)
He always cries when I...
(BABY stops crying; beat)
Cinderella: Now what are we going to do?
Baker: We must have a plan before the giant returns.
Jack: What?
Baker: We all have to think.
Jack: If there were just some way we could surprise her.
Little Red Ridinghood: She's too tall to surprise.
(birds descend, twittering)
Cinderella: Oh, good friends, I need your help now more than ever.
(she listens)
What of the Prince?
(she listens, glancing at the BAKER as if he understands the birds)
I don't care! What's important now is that we find a way to fell the giant. How can you help?
(she listens)
You could do that?
(SHE listens)
How can I ever thank you?
(birds fly off as CINDERELLA waves goodbye)
Little Red Ridinghood: You can talk to birds?
Cinderella: The birds will help.
Jack: How?
Cinderella: When the giant returns, they'll attack her and peck out her eyes 'til she's blind.
Baker: What good will that do?
Cinderella: Then you can surprise her. Strike her...or whatever you do to kill a giant.
Baker: Once she's blinded she'll stagger about.
Jack: She'll get angry.
Little Red Ridinghood: And she'll crush us.
(beat)
Baker: Smear the ground with pitch.
Cinderella: What?
Baker: We'll lure her to an area smeared with pitch.
Cinderella: Her shoes will stick, and she won't be able to move.
Jack: And I will climb a tree and strike her from behind.
Baker: I will climb a tree too. It will take two mighty blows.
Little Red Ridinghood: I'm excited.
Jack: I'm going to kill another giant.
Baker: Quick. It will be dark soon. We must find the pitch.
Little Red Ridinghood: There's some at Granny's.
Baker: (hands the BABY to CINDERELLA)
The baby will be safe here with you. This will take no time.
(BAKER, JACK and LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD exit. BABY begins to cry)
Cinderella: Oh no. Now, now, don't cry little one. I know you want your mother.
(BABY begins to calm down. CINDERELLA'S PRINCE bounds onstage; he doesn't recognize CINDERELLA)
Cinderella's Prince: Hello.
(he begins to cross the stage to exit)
Cinderella: The Giant went in that direction.
Cinderella's Prince: (realizing it is CINDERELLA) My darling. I did not recognize you. What are you doing in those old clothes?
And with a child? You must go back to the castle at once. There's a giant on the loose.
Cinderella: The Giant has been to the castle.
Cinderella's Prince: No! Are you alright?
(CINDERELLA nods and walks away)
My love, why so cold?
Cinderella: Maybe it's because I am not your only love. Am I?
Cinderella's Prince: (beat) I love you. I do.
(pause)
But yes, it's true.
Cinderella: Why, if you love me, would you have strayed?
Cinderella's Prince: I thought if you were mine, that I could not wish for more. And part of me is content and as happy as
I have ever been. But there remains a part that continually needs more.
Cinderella: I have, on occasion, wanted more. But that doesn't mean I went in search of it. If this is how you behave as a
Prince, what kind of King will you be?
Cinderella's Prince: I was raised to be charming, not sincere. I didn't ask to be born a king, and I'm not perfect. I am only
human.
Cinderella: (after a pause) I think you should go.
Cinderella's Prince: Leave? But I do love you.
Cinderella: Consider that I have been lost. A victim of the Giant.
Cinderella's Prince: Is that what you really wish?
Cinderella: My father's house was a nightmare. Your house was a dream. Now I want something in between. Please go.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE begins to exit)
Cinderella's Prince: I shall always love the maiden that ran away.
Cinderella: And I the faraway Prince.
(CINDERELLA'S PRINCE exits. another moment for CINDERELLA with the BABY. LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD enters)
Little Red Ridinghood: They're almost finished. You see over there between those two trees? When the giant comes, we are to
send her over there.
Cinderella: Good.
Little Red Ridinghood: I wanted to climb the tree too.
Cinderella: I am glad that you are here to help me.
(LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD begins to cry; music begins)
What's wrong?
Little Red Ridinghood: My Granny's gone.
Cinderella: Oh no. I'm so sorry.
Little Red Ridinghood: I think my granny and my mother would be very angry with me.
Cinderella: Why?
Little Red Ridinghood: They said to always make them proud. And here I am about to kill somebody.
Cinderella: Not somebody. A giant that has been doing harm.
Little Red Ridinghood: But the Giant's a person. Aren't we to show forgiveness? Mother would be very unhappy with these circumstances.
Cinderella: MOTHER CANNOT GUIDE YOU.
NOW YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN.
ONLY ME BESIDE YOU,
STILL, YOU'RE NOT ALONE.
NO-ONE IS ALONE, TRULY.
NO-ONE IS ALONE.
SOMETIMES PEOPLE LEAVE YOU,
HALFWAY THROUGH THE WOOD
OTHERS MAY DECEIVE YOU,
YOU DECIDE WHAT'S GOOD.
YOU DECIDE ALONE.
BUT NO-ONE IS ALONE.
Little Red Ridinghood: I WISH...
Cinderella: I KNOW...
(LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD moves close to CINDERELLA who comforts her. JACK and the BAKER appear sitting in a branch, clubs in
hand)
Jack: Wait until my Mother hears I've slain the Giant.
Baker: Jack. Your mother is dead.
Jack: (stunned) Dead? Was she killed by the Giant?
Baker: She was arguing with the Giant...trying to protect you...and she was struck a deadly blow by the Prince's Steward.
Jack: Oh no. Why would he do that?
Baker: He was afraid she was provoking the Giant.
Jack: Can no one bring her back?
Baker: No one.
Jack: That Steward will pay for this. After we slay the Giant, I will slay him.
Baker: You will do nothing of the kind!
Jack: But he shouldn't have killed my mother. Right?
Baker: I guess not.
Jack: Then he must die.
Baker: Well, no.
Jack: (getting worked up) Why not?
Baker: Because that would be wrong.
Jack: But what he did was wrong. He should be punished.
Baker: He will be, somehow.
Jack: How?
Baker: I don't know! (angry) Stop asking me questions I can't answer.
Jack: I'm going to kill him.
Baker: Then kill him.
(pause) No, don't kill him.
Cinderella: (to LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD) MOTHER ISN'T HERE NOW
Baker: (to JACK) WRONG THINGS, RIGHT THINGS...
Cinderella: WHO KNOWS WHAT SHE'D SAY?
Baker: WHO CAN SAY WHAT'S TRUE?
Cinderella: NOTHING'S QUITE SO CLEAR NOW...
Baker: DO THINGS, FIGHT THINGS...
Cinderella: FEEL YOU'VE LOST YOUR WAY?
Baker: YOU DECIDE, BUT YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
Cinderella: YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
BELIEVE ME.
NO ONE IS ALONE.
Baker: NO ONE IS ALONE,
BELIEVE ME.
Cinderella: TRULY...
Cinderella, Baker: YOU MOVE JUST A FINGER,
SAY THE SLIGHTEST WORD
SOMETHING'S BOUND TO LINGER,
BE HEARD.
Baker: NO ONE IS ALONE.
CAREFUL, NO ONE IS ALONE.
Cinderella, Baker: PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES.
Baker: FATHERS.
Cinderella: MOTHERS.
Cinderella, Baker: PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES,
HOLDING TO THEIR OWN,
THINKING THEY'RE ALONE.
Cinderella: HONOR THEIR MISTAKES...
Baker: FIGHT FOR THEIR MISTAKES...
Cinderella, Baker: ONE ANOTHER'S TERRIBLE MISTAKES
WITCHES CAN BE RIGHT.
GIANTS CAN BE GOOD.
YOU DECIDE WHAT'S RIGHT
YOU DECIDE WHAT'S GOOD.
Cinderella: JUST REMEMBER:
Baker: JUST REMEMBER:
Cinderella, Baker: SOMEONE IS ON YOUR SIDE
Jack, Little Red Ridinghood: OUR SIDE.
Cinderella, Baker: OUR SIDE...SOMEONE ELSE IS NOT.
WHILE WE'RE SEEING OUR SIDE...
Jack, Little Red Ridinghood: OUR SIDE...
Cinderella, Baker: OUR SIDE...
Cinderella, Baker, Jack, Little Red Ridinghood: MAYBE WE FORGOT:
THEY ARE NOT ALONE
NO ONE IS ALONE
Cinderella: HARD TO SEE THE LIGHT NOW
Baker: JUST DON'T LET IT GO
Cinderella, Baker: THINGS WILL TURN OUT RIGHT NOW.
WE CAN MAKE IT SO.
SOMEONE IS ON YOUR...
Little Red Ridinghood: Here she comes.
Cinderella: Remember. Don't let her know our plan.
(ground trembles; shadow is cast)
Giant: Where is the boy?
Little Red Ridinghood: We don't know.
Cinderella: Yes we do! We can't go on hiding him any longer. He must pay the price for his wrongs.
Giant: Quick. Tell me where he is.
Little Red Ridinghood: (points) Over there.
Cinderella: See that tree where the birds are clustered? Jack is in that tree, hiding.
Giant: Thank you. Now justice will be served and I shall leave your kingdom.
(GIANT turns and heads away.
we hear the sounds of birds attacking in the distance; CINDERELLA and LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD watch eagerly)
Cinderella: Good birds!
(cry from the GIANT)
Little Red Ridinghood: She doesn't look happy.
(we then hear the GIANT pounded on the head; another cry)
Cinderella: (grimace) Ouch!
(another cry from the GIANT)
Little Red Ridinghood: (disgusted) The club is stuck in her head!
Cinderella: But they've done it. She's swaying.
Little Red Ridinghood: She's bleeding all over!
Cinderella: She's beginning to fall!
Little Red Ridinghood: (panicked) She's beginning to fall this way!
(they back off the stage quickly, as the loudest noise of all resounds. the GIANT'S head and mane of hair fall from the wing.
the following enter and give their moral and exit. those killed appear as ghosts)
Jack's Mother: The slotted spoon can catch the potato...
Mysterious Man: Every knot was once straight rope...
(PRINCES enter with SNOW WHITE and SLEEPING BEAUTY)
Cinderella's Prince, Rapunzel's Prince: The harder to wake, the better to have.
Snow White, Sleeping Beauty: (yawn) Excuse me.
Steward: The greater the good, the harder the blow...
Stepmother: When going to hide, know how to get there.
Cinderella's Father: And how to get back...
Florinda/Lucinda: And eat first...
Granny: The knife that is sharp today may be dull by tomorrow...
Rapunzel: AH-AH-AH-AH-AH...
(JACK, BAKER, CINDERELLA and LITTLE RED RIDINGHOOD enter from upstage of GIANT'S head)
Baker: Now we can return home and let us hope there will be no more killing.
Jack: Where am I to go? I have no-one to take care of me.
Baker: You'll have to take care of yourself now Jack. It's time.
Little Red Ridinghood: No, it's not. I'll take care of him.
Jack: You will?
Little Red Ridinghood: Yes. I'll be your mother now.
Jack: I don't want another mother. I want a friend. And a pet.
Little Red Ridinghood: Of course, we have nowhere to go, so we'll move in with you.
Baker: Oh no.
Little Red Ridinghood: It'll be fun!
Baker: My house is a shambles and there is hardly room for--
(he stops mid sentence)
Of course you can come home with us.
Jack: (to CINDERELLA) And you shall join us too.
Baker: You'll not return to the castle?
Cinderella: I'll gladly help you with your house. There are times when I actually enjoy cleaning.
(beat)
Baker: How proud my wife would have been of us. And how sad it is that my son will never know her.
Maybe I just wasn't meant to have children--
Baker's Wife: (enters as ghost) Don't say that!
Of course you were meant to have children!
Baker: But how will I go about being a father
With no one to mother my child?
(BABY cries)
Baker's Wife: JUST CALM THE CHILD.
Baker: (attempting to do so) YES. CALM THE CHILD.
Baker's Wife: LOOK, TELL HIM THE STORY
OF HOW IT ALL HAPPENED
BE FATHER AND MOTHER
YOU'LL KNOW WHAT TO DO.
Baker: ALONE...?
Baker's Wife: SOMETIMES PEOPLE LEAVE YOU
HALFWAY THROUGH THE WOOD.
DO NOT LET IT GRIEVE YOU
NO ONE LEAVES FOR GOOD.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
NO ONE IS ALONE.
HOLD HIM TO THE LIGHT NOW,
LET HIM SEE THE GLOW.
THINGS WILL BE ALRIGHT NOW.
TELL HIM WHAT YOU KNOW...
(BABY cries)
Baker: Shhh...Once upon a time...in a far off Kingdom...lived a young maiden...a sad young lad...and a childless baker...with
his wife.
(WITCH enters)
Witch: (simultaneously with BAKER, to AUDIENCE)
CAREFUL THE THINGS YOU SAY,
CHILDREN WILL LISTEN.
CAREFUL THE THINGS YOU DO CHILDREN WILL SEE
AND LEARN.
GUIDE THEM ALONG THE WAY
CHILDREN WILL LISTEN
CHILDREN WILL LOOK TO YOU
FOR WHICH WAY TO TURN
TO LEARN WHAT TO BE
CAREFUL BEFORE YOU SAY
"LISTEN TO ME!"
CHILDREN WILL LISTEN.
Company: (during the following verse, the remainder of the COMPANY enters)
CAREFUL THE WISH YOU MAKE,
WISHES ARE CHILDREN.
CAREFUL THE PATH THEY TAKE...
WISHES COME TRUE,
NOT FREE.
CAREFUL THE SPELL YOU CAST,
NOT JUST ON CHILDREN.
SOMETIMES THE SPELL MAY LAST
PAST WHAT YOU CAN SEE
AND TURN AGAINST YOU...
Witch: CAREFUL THE TALE YOU TELL.
THAT IS THE SPELL
CHILDREN WILL LISTEN...
Company: (in three groups) THOUGH IT'S FEARFUL,
THOUGH IT'S DEEP, THOUGH IT'S DARK
AND THOUGH YOU MAY LOSE THE PATH,
THOUGH YOU MAY ENCOUNTER WOLVES,
YOU CAN'T JUST ACT,
YOU HAVE TO LISTEN.
YOU CAN'T JUST ACT,
YOU HAVE TO THINK.
THERE ARE ALWAYS WOLVES,
THERE ARE ALWAYS SPELLS,
THERE ARE ALWAYS BEANS
OR A GIANT DWELLS THERE.
SO INTO THE WOODS YOU GO AGAIN...
YOU HAVE TO EVERY NOW AND THEN
INTO THE WOODS, NO TELLING WHEN,
BE READY FOR THE JOURNEY.
INTO THE WOODS, BUT NOT TOO FAST
OR WHAT YOU WISH YOU LOSE AT LAST.
INTO THE WOODS, BUT MIND THE PAST.
INTO THE WOODS, BUT MIND THE FUTURE.
INTO THE WOODS,
BUT NOT TO STRAY
OR TEMPT THE WOLF,
OR STEAL FROM THE GIANT...
THE WAY IS DARK,
THE LIGHT IS DIM,
BUT NOW THERE'S YOU,
ME, HER AND HIM
THE CHANCES LOOK SMALL,
THE CHOICES LOOK GRIM,
BUT EVERYTHING YOU LEARN THERE
WILL HELP WHEN YOU RETURN THERE.
Baker, Cinderella, Jack, Little Red Ridinghood: THE LIGHT IS GETTING DIMMER...
Baker: I THINK I SEE A GLIMMER...
Company: INTO THE WOODS, EACH TIME YOU GO
THERE'S MORE TO LEARN OF WHAT YOU KNOW.
INTO THE WOODS, BUT NOT TOO SLOW...
INTO THE WOODS, IT'S NEARING MIDNIGHT...
INTO THE WOODS
TO MIND THE WOLF,
TO HEED THE WITCH,
TO HONOR THE GIANT,
TO MIND,
TO HEED,
TO FIND,
TO THINK,
TO TEACH,
TO JOIN,
TO GO TO THE FESTIVAL!
INTO THE WOODS
INTO THE WOODS
INTO THE WOODS
THEN OUT OF THE WOODS...
AND HAPPY EVER AFTER!
Cinderella: I WISH...
(pause; CHORD; BLACKOUT)
END OF SCENE TWO
End of Act 2
End of "Into the Woods"